| A Head Teacher's Thoughts on Jack |
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| The
“Jack the Station Cat” books are a charming series that
will delight young and old. Jack lives at Tails’ End station
in Wales with his cousin Tom, Aunty Buzz (the superintendent of station
cats) and other animal friends including other cats from real existing
railways all over the country. Alan Cliff has considered carefully what else children might want from a book these days, and has included a personal letter to the reader at the end of each book to tell them about the railways mentioned in the story, as well as puzzles and interesting facts about railways. For a railway-mad or cat-mad family, these stories could spark the idea behind an entire family holiday, following the trail of the cats and their station homes. The books are the right length for a bedtime story, and are the kind children will be able to enjoy again and again once they can read independently. The beautiful illustrations give a real sense of the cats’ identities as well as an idea of how the station might work. Another generous feature of the series is that each story donates half the author royalties to a different children’s charity including the Children’s Trust, Ty Gobaith Chidren’s Hospice and Save the Family (a homeless family charity). I would recommend these books as great stocking fillers, and not just for the kids! Kate Owbridge Published in Railnews Book Review of the “Jack the Station Cat” Series |
| And other Snippets.... |
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"This Delightful Series", Railway Modeller, Dec 2009. |