The Literary CatCast

The Galloping Cat is an entertaining, funny poem about a quirky, martyr cat that gallops about doing good. He encounters an invisible angel on a garden path and a fight ensues.

Phebe Phillips discusses and reads the poem, The Galloping Cat by the late British poet, Stevie Smith (1902-1971). This poem is an excerpt from the book, All the Poems by Stevie Smith, edited by Will May.

Phebe feels an obligation to keep books with well-developed cat characters, alive and in-focus. The Literary CatCast Podcast is not monetized, nor are there affiliate links. It is a work of love designed to match cat-lovers with books they may like to read.

Ep 005- Mr. Cat, and The Black Velvet Hair Bow features the vintage book, Mr. Cat (1960) by George Freedley. It's a sweet, true story of his much-loved kitty, Mr. Cat.

This episode is excerpted from a scene where Mr. Cat raids Madison Avenue sew shops bringing the actress, Lillian Gish, a black velvet hair bow.

Are you a cat lover, a book reader, and possibly a hot tea drinker?

The Literary CatCast is the Podcast for you.

Short excerpts are read from vintage and current books. Episodes are whistled in by a tea kettle, and guest cats voice episode meows.

Fill your favorite teacup and get ready. You may find a new book, fall in love with a new cat character, or just be entertained.

Subscribe at The Literary Catcast.com.

The Literary CatCast, your new favorite podcast.

In this episode Phebe chats about the history of cats on ships, even as far back as the Egyptians, and Vikings. Did you know black cats were lucky? A tea kettle whistles her listeners into a legend about Noah's Ark, and how the cat first appeared. The reading is taken from The First Ship's Cat, from Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, on page 49 inside the book The Well-Read Cat by Browntrout Publishers in San Francisco.

As always, a photo and purchase link to the book is located in the Episode and Show Notes section of The Literary CatCast (dot) com. A photo of the cat who voices the meows is also on the website. The Literary CatCast Podcast exists to help literature lovers, who also love cats, build their personal libraries with old and new books featuring cats as main characters.

Phebe Phillips reads her classic, charming Holiday poem, Cat and Mouse's Christmas, about a friendship between a cat, and a mouse.

Cat and Mouse's Christmas

by Phebe Phillips

written December 12, 2018

On the night before Christmas, inside the warm house,

Cat was stirring, in preparation for tea with Mouse.

He mulled catnip, camomile, dutch lavender, and peppermint drops.

He cubed cheddar, and swiss. He made havarti cream pops.

They laughed and told stories, they giggled—tee-hee .

Cat and Mouse, great friends they would be.

They looked at the tree,

and hid in the branches.

They played cat and mouse,

and did silly dances.

Cat gifted Mouse scraps of yarn from his ball.

Mouse gifted Cat a felted acorn he found last Fall.

Daylight was breaking, it was time to go home.

They hugged and rubbed whiskers, made hearts with their tails.

Christmas Day was waking, cloudless and bright.

Said Cat to Mouse, "Merry Christmas my friend. I'll see you tonight."

This episode is taken from an out-of-print book from 1952 titled, Charles—The Story of a Friendship. The book is about distinguished British publisher, Michael Joseph's relationship with his Siamese Cat named Charles. In this episode Mr. Joseph discusses that the names given to individual cats shed interesting light on their human owners.

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Phebe Phillips shares with you a few letter about cats. After Cleveland Amory wrote his first book, The Cat Who Came for Christmas, about the stray he rescued, later naming Polar Bear, he received a lot of letters from cat owners. Two of his favorite letters were about a cat named Jose—taken from Amory's Cat-Smartness file, and a cat named Arthur, taken from his Siamese file.

This excerpt is taken from Compleat Cat, a compilation of Amory's three books. It picks up on page 302 in the second chapter, titled Cat Power.