Mr. Mistoffelees; With, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer

If you are a Cats fan and feeling withdrawal symptoms since the musical closed on Broadway, you have several choices to feel better. You can fly to London and see the show there. You can watch the terrific videotape of the show. Or for a smaller investment in time and money, you can read your copy of this delightful book. Although billed as a children's book, this book is really for children of all ages who love T.S. Eliot's work.Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute. To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Mr. Mistoffelees with Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer was one of her picks.Our daughter has seen Cats so many times that she cannot remember the number. Some of our happiest experiences came when she and I went to the show together, having worn out the rest of the family's interest years earlier. Each time she saw the show, Mr. Mistoffelees was her favorite character. After reading the poem here, you, too, will become more taken with Mr. Mistoffelees.This book contains two poems from T.S. Eliot's 1939 collection of poems, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The musical was based on these poems. In this version, the poems are beautifully enhanced by very colorful, well-composed, and witty art by Errol Le Cain. This book won a Parent's Choice award in 1991.Mr. Mistoffelees is "The Original Conjuring Cat" and can perform many wonderful and funny tricks. His best trick is to produce "seven kittens right out of a hat." After you see him at work, you'll say "Oh!Well I never!Was there everA cat so cleverAs Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!"If you are like me, you'll sing the verses as you read them.Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were "a very notorious couple of cats." "As knockabout clowns, quick-change comedians, tight-rope walkers and acrobats they had an extensive reputation." "They were highly efficient cat-burglars as well, and remarkably smart at smash-and-grab." If anything was missing or awry, "Then the family would say: 'It's that horrible cat!'"After you have bathed in the beautiful glow of T.S. Eliot's good humor and been warmed by the reflected light of the illustrations, I suggest that you consider writing some children's verse yourself. And the best way to do it well, is to enlist a child to help you. However the poetry turns out, you'll have wonderful memories together. "And there's nothing at all to be done about that!"