Cat and Gnome Review

Ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? The world seems to drop everything negative it can on you as the sun keeps shining as if to laugh at you. No matter what you do, nothing goes right and everything goes the opposite way. Such is the life of the cat in the book Cat and Gnome by Graham Roumieu. The book follows the daily exploits of a lonely cat who befriends a garden gnome and includes it in his every day life.

The book opens with the garden gnome standing by himself in an empty field. The cat walks by and notices the gnome. He tries to strike up a conversation with the gnome, going so far as to buy the same 'jaunty' belt that the gnome has. I'm sure that we've all done something like that to be able to fit in with a crowd, be it in grade school, high school, or even normal daily life. Eventually, the cat decides that silence implies consent, and believing that the gnome accepts him as a friend, comes to visit him when he can. The cat even goes to invite the gnome to his birthday (which isn't really his birthday).

The book also touches upon handling death, when one of the people who attended the cat's birthday party dies rather unexpectedly. The death of Reggie the Snail (who is, apparently, Jewish), is a dark part of the book with the normal moments of attempted humor that people try to make when dealing with death. For instance, as the cat takes a sip from his flask, he asks the gnome if he wants a 'slug' of his alcohol. 'Get it? Slug? Snail?' Then the vultures move in to surround the tiny snail grave.

Though this book starts off low with the cat trying to fit in with the gnome, an awkward birthday party, and a funeral, it ends on a positive note with a brief trip to the future. After the situations that happen with the two friends, they settle into a happy life together. The book also goes to show us that apparently, in the future, cats and garden gnomes can reproduce. I will leave that to you to figure out how, and buy the book.

Cat and Gnome is available at many local book stores. It is published by Blue Q and often found in the humor section of stores. It can also be purchased at Amazon.com or from the publishing company's website. If you ever in need of an emotional pick me up to help get you through a rough day, this book will definitely do the trick.