Medium – Book
About the Book – Cat Sparrow lives in a nunnery as an orphan, with her big sister Meg. One day, Meg is taken away by a man on a big black horse, and Cat decides that she will go after her. Armed with her bird flute, a beautiful singing voice and a bit of food, she takes to the road, hoping to get to London where she hopes to find her sister. On the road, she meets French boy Jacques, and his monkey Pepin, and the three of them make their way to London. When there, Cat is picked out by Queen Catherine of Aragon to become her ‘fool’, and Cat and Jacques search on to find Meg, uncovering a dastardly scheme as they do.
My Rating – 3/5
My Thoughts – I am really enjoying reading books which are narrated by unusual or generally unseen characters at the moment, and so this book was one I read keenly. The main character, Cat, has Williams Syndrome, a condition which leads to a person forming strong attachments, having some learning difficulties but generally being kind, honest and strong-willed. The author who wrote the book has researched the ‘fools’ who were employed by the Tudor courts and believes that many of them had a degree of learning difficulties, especially Williams Syndrome. Cat is a delightful character – she speaks in quite an informal, but very descriptive way, and is extremely brave. The friends that she surrounds herself with accept her for who she is, and understand the many strengths that she has.
The plot line is a little weaker than the characters, and I did find myself skimming through and getting a little bored at time. The book was obviously well researched, and felt very genuine to the time period. Being a children’s book, there was obviously an element of rose-tinted spectacles, and I imagine that a lot of the problems that I had with the book were because I was an adult reading a children’s book. It was well written, but I think just not a book that I would re-read in a hurry. It would be perfect for history-loving children, and I am keeping it in my bookshelf for future teaching oppurtunities!
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