Ginger Finds a Home

Both my children like this story. [They are boy and girl; just turned 4 and 6.] The artwork is simple and attractive and the story is gentle and clever. As a mom I particularly like that Ginger doesn't just bound after the little girl and that it takes patience and persistence to coax him home. And once home, the little girl needs to be understanding of how Ginger feels. He looked in all the corners and under all the furniture. But poor Ginger was so nervous... that when the little girl tried to shut the door, he ran out into the garden as fast as he could. Four Stars. [B+]. Good read-aloud. Good story that has something to discuss.

This is as much a book about cats and their natures as it is a tale about building trust and patience. A prequel to the previously popular and delightful "Ginger", Charlotte Voake's, "Ginger Finds a Home", gives us a little background information about one very special house cat. While in "Ginger" the cat is a fat comfortable fellow with little time for the ragtag mechanisms of a new kitten, in "Ginger Finds a Home" our hero is a skinny alley cat who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.The Ginger here is a wild thin creature that lives at the end of a garden. He never knows where he'll be getting his next meal. One day, Ginger finds a plate of cat food waiting for him to eat. The next day, when he goes back to the same spot he sees his benefactress, a little girl. Soon a trust grows between the two (slowly and with time) and eventually the girl invites Ginger home. The cat easily grows skittish in the new environment and the little girl is distraught, fearing she's pushed him too far. But the cat comes back and now the two live together peacefully with Ginger visiting his patch at the end of the garden to sunbathe only.It's nice to see a story that talks of patience and slow understanding. Voake is an adept writer and though I felt this wasn't quite as satisfying a story as "Ginger", the book has a charm all of its own. Ginger is quite full and healthy looking at the end of the book, though his tail remains as skinny and raggedy as ever. Owners of their own cats will be pleased to note that the little girl knows exactly how to hold Ginger, carefully placing an arm underneath his lower legs when she picks him up. Those readers who chose to glance at the author's note on the back inside flap (aside from seeing a parting shot of a happy Ginger in his cat basket) may be delighted to find that the story is based on a real Ginger who decided to live with the Voake family in England. Truth be told, there is a rather English flavor to the book. It is both understated and touching. In the end, a perfect compliment of tones make "Ginger Finds a Home" an excellent edition to any home library. For the cat lovers of the world, it's a keeper.

Ginger is a little orange cat, very thin, with a tail like a piece of string, who is living in a patch of weeds at the end of a garden. Ginger survives by drinking water from puddles and finding things to eat in trash cans before sleeping in a patch of weeds each night. Then one day the cold and hungry little cat came back to his patch of weeds and discovered a plate of delicious cat food. The next day there is not only another plate of food waiting for him, but also a little girl."Ginger Finds a Home" is a prequel to Charlotte Voake's "Ginger" and tells the story of how one small cat finds, help, a home, and love. Voake lives in England and the story here is a true one about the day the real Ginger, who lived at the bottom of her garden in England, decided to come and live with the family. What is nice about this story is that it captures the tentativeness of the bonds between the hungry cat and the little girl that has decided to offer him a home in which to live. Anybody who has lived with a cat (it is a mistake to think that they choose to live with you) will know that "Ginger Finds a Home" rings true. For anybody who has ever brought home a stray cat this charming little book will strike a chord, and if you have a cat that entered your life by more conventional means you can check out Voake's "Ginger" as well.

Ginger is a stray cat struggling to survive when he finds a place where food is easily available-- although there seems to be another animal there too. This animal continues to bring food to him and finally he trusts the little girl enough to venture into the house where at last he finds a home.Voake manages to portray the hard life of a stray without being too upsetting for younger children while making sure that they understand the hardships involved. She also gently instructs in the art of making animal friends: patience, kindness and more patience. She is also accurate in her depiction of Ginger's reactions in a way many authors fail: for example, Ginger is frightened being in the house and reacts accordingly instead of deciding immediately that this is HOME. It's a more realistic treatment than most and I find that admirable.The illustrations are more suggestive of characters and events than detailed and accurate; this is not Anne Mortimer, more like Quentin Blake. They are also old fashioned in a way, in that they leave lots of open space, focusing in instead on, say, how Ginger curls up in his spot of grass rather than the entire yard. I'd especially recommend this for people who work in animal rescue to use to explain to small children what it is like to be a stray and why stray animals need time to adjust to people. However it would work for any pre-K- 1st grade as a story just to be enjoyed.