When kaspar the cat first arrived at London’s Savoy Hotel, it was Johnny Trott who carried him in. After all, Johnny was a bellboy and was responsible for all of Countess Kandinsky’s things— including Kaspar. But when tragedy befalls the Countess during her stay, Kaspar becomes more than Johnny’s responsibility: Kaspar is Johnny’s new cat, and his new best friend.
And when Kaspar and Johnny meet Lizziebeth, a spirited young heiress, they find themselves journeying across the Atlantic with Lizziebeth’s family on England’s newest and most magnificent ship, the Titanic. Because there is always adventure in the air with a cat like Kaspar around. After all, he’s Kaspar Kandinsky, Prince of Cats, a Londoner and a New Yorker and, as far as anyone knows, the only cat to survive the sinking of the Titanic. . . .
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Great Read Aloud Book
By Michael W. Penn
I'm a librarian at a K-3 school and I read Kaspar to all the 2nd and 3rd grade classes. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic helped them really get into the book. In all 12 classes at the end there was applause. It took 5 weeks to do the book but, since it was by the writer of War Horse and The Pied Piper of Hamlin they were anticipating nothing but the best story and they got it. A great book for juveniles.Amazon has an amazing selection.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
The Title is a Bit Deceptive
By M. E. Blinn
This is a heart-warming piece of historical fiction narrated by Johnny Trot, a fourteen-year -old orphan, living and working as a bellhop at London's Savoy Hotel. Kaspar comes into the tale on the arm of Countess Kadinsky and through an unfortunate circumstance becomes Johnny's charge. Lizziebeth, the strong headed little daughter of a wealthy American couple, eventually leads this fast-paced tale to the Titanic.The title is a bit deceptive, used probably to play upon the anniversary of the event. Kaspar is not the center of the story, and more than half of the novel passes before anyone sets a foot upon the fated ship. Even so, an accurate feel for time and place, delightful drawings, and some adult themes handled with appropriate care make this the purr-fect bedtime book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.Cat-tivating
By Melanie Gilbert
My family toured "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI this past summer. We exited the exhibit through the gift shop which had a shelf of Titanic-themed books for the young reader including this fine work by Michael Morpurgo.Morpurgo builds his story with exquisite care - the iceberg crash doesn't even happen until page 132 of the 199-paged story. Each character is vividly drawn and the land-based story is richly detailed and compelling. The author completely succeeds in putting the reader in the moment-to-moment life of our main and supporting cast - which includes the title character of the black cat named Kaspar - that we, like our subjects, aren't anticipating a disaster.And Morpurgo captures this look-and-feel of early 20th-century life - the manners and customs and the class lines that guide everyday interactions - through the eyes a 14-year old London orphan turned hotel bellboy, Johnny Trott.A lot of themes are gently explored in this book: class lines and divisions; Old Europe vs. the New World called America; family and identity; honor vs. duty and reality vs. dreams. All these ideas are presented through the innocent and wondering eyes of Trott, whose journey takes him from the London streets and back stairs of the Savoy Hotel to the bowels of the Titanic as a stowaway. He emerges both as a survivor and a triumphant citizen of his new world order.This is a thoughtful, well-researched, well-paced adventure story for the ages 8-12 reader.
