The Cat with the Coloured Tail
Age 8+
General Fiction
A magical cat, an ice-cream van that makes delicious moon-creams and a quest to bring joy to those who need it most.
Mr Hooper and The Cat with the Coloured Tail travel through the countryside in their ice-cream van. They enjoy looking for heart shapes (their favourite game) and making people happy with their delicious moon-creams. But a dark feeling is following the cat. Something is wrong. When the ice-cream van enters the forest, Mr Hooper and the cat realise the heart of the world is in danger. Will they be able to save it? A lyrical fable about love and healing.
Creators
Gillian Mears had been long loved for her novels and short stories, including the 2012 multi-award-winning novel for adults Foal’s Bread. She wrote The Cat with the Coloured Tail while camped in the South Australian mallee, in her converted ambo camper, Ant and Bee.
Dinalie Dabarera is a freelance illustrator based in Sydney. She specialises in pencil sketches of imaginary worlds and strange occurrences. The Cat with the Coloured Tail is her first book. See what she’s up to at dinalie.com.
Reviews
It’s a story that will appeal to all ages and especially to anyone who loves fairytales… The finely detailed coloured-pencil illustrations on each page enhance the mood of the story and, together with the elegant typesetting, give this book a timeless feel.
Books+Publishing
A beautiful reminder of the kindness and hope within us.
Boomerang Books
The book will make a great birthday or Christmas gift
103.1FM Grafton
A sweet tale about the human qualities of kindness, love and hope.
Magpies
With its dreamy illustrations, the book explores how love and empathy have their own healing power.
Sydney Morning Herald
This is a joyful, lovely little book, beautifully designed in hardback and offering a rewarding environmental message
ReadPlus
This is a beautiful parable about kindness and love and how these virtues can restore the world. Award-winning author Gillian Mears has created a story as sweet and delicious as ice cream on a warm summer’s day. Utterly gorgeous illustrations by Dinalie Dabarera complete the package.
Readings
A beautiful story about seeing the best in life and to be always on the lookout for love.
Creative Kids Tales
Aimed at the 8+ year age groups, this beautifully presented book combines prose interspersed throughout with lyrical poetry. It will surely be used to generate discussions on kindness and hope in our world. Its stunning illustrations created with pencil are striking and unique in style. They exude the calm felt by the lonely in the cat’s presence.
Buzz Words
This poignant, delicious, heart-felt fable will actually appeal to a much wider reader range than 6-8 yr olds…Some of Mears’ cat descriptions are so perfect you can almost feel the cat curled up in your lap or poking his head out through the top of your jumper. His kitten-like way of chasing his own tail of happiness is an image that I will cherish for a long time to come.
Brona's Books
The Cat with the Coloured Tail is a fable for all ages
Sydney Morning Herald
This is a melancholy story at times, an effect enhanced by Dabarera’s gorgeous but muted pencil illustrations. It explores challenging concepts including death (reading it one cannot but think of the author’s own serious illness) and so is one for older readers, say 10 and up. But it’s a book we’ve talked about a lot.
The Australian
The pictures are mostly black and white, with pops of colour. While I expect children will be attracted to her drawings of the amazing moon-cream flavours, like firecracker and double-scoop stars, my favourite is her depiction of the elderly lady’s lively step following her first lick of the “fragrant old-fashioned rose” pink moon-cream.
Reading Time
Best Books of 2015
The Australian
Best children’s books of 2015
Sydney Morning Herald
The Cat with the Coloured Tail is a moving, whimsical fable about the power of hope and of love. Readers of all ages will love the mysterious, joyful cat and his kindly companion, and the joy they bring each other and those they meet.
Aussie Reviews
I was drawn to this gorgeous hardback for children with its porcelain-green cover and wonderful drawings (by Dinalie Dabarera) the moment I saw it in Gleebooks.
A Bigger Brighter World
The Cat with the Coloured Tail is a moving, whimsical fable about the power of hope and of love. Readers of all ages will love the mysterious, joyful cat and his kindly companion, and the joy they bring each other and those they meet.
Aussie Reviews
The Cat with the Coloured Tail is poetic and lilting, with a lovely whimsical quality brought to life by Dabarera’s lovely illustrations
Magpies Magazine
