''Carbonel'' is a children's book series by

Barbara Sleigh Barbara Grace de Riemer Sleigh (1906–1982) was an English children's writer and broadcaster. She is remembered most for her Carbonel series about a king of cats. Family and career Barbara Sleigh was born on 9 January 1906 in Birmingham, the d ...

, first published by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs to ...

from 1955 to 1978. Also published in the US by

Bobbs-Merrill The Bobbs-Merrill Company was an American book publisher active from 1850 until 1985, and located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The Bobbs-Merrill Company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore ...

from 1955. It has three novels, first '' Carbonel: the King of the Cats'' and two sequels, ''The Kingdom of Carbonel'' (Puffin, 1961) and ''Carbonel and Calidor: Being the Further Adventures of a Royal Cat'' (Kestrel Books, 1978), and was based on the old

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

folk tale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

" The King of the Cats". The first edition of ''Carbonel'' was illustrated by V. H. Drummond, that of ''Kingdom'' by D. M. Leonard, and that of ''Carbonel and Calidor'' by

Charles Front Charles Front is a British illustrator, best known for designing the lettering on the 1965 Beatles album ''Rubber Soul''. He has illustrated several books, including ''A Child's Bible'', ''Never Say Macbeth'', ''The Great White Whale'', ''The Li ...

. ''Carbonel'' was named a Book of the Month by ''Young Elizabethan'' magazine, as a "most sensible, it-could-easily-have-happened fairy story".

Plot

The plot concerns a girl named Rosemary who buys a broom and a cat from an untidy woman in the marketplace. When the cat starts talking to her she learns that she has encountered a witch, selling up to start a new career. Moreover, the cat, Carbonel, just happens to be King of the Cats, presumed missing by his subjects ever since the witch Mrs. Cantrip abducted him. Unfortunately he cannot return to his throne until the enslavement spell Mrs. Cantrip cast on him is undone, and so Rosemary, together with her friend John, have to learn a little witchcraft and track down Mrs. Cantrip for her, at best ambivalent help. The first two books are more closely linked than the third. Carbonel has been said to have few real cat characteristics: he is more like

Edith Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children and others as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political ...

's Psammead in ''

Five Children and It ''Five Children and It'' is a fantasy children's novel by English people, English author E. Nesbit. It was originally published in 1902 in the ''Strand Magazine'' under the general title ''The Psammead, or the Gifts'', with a segment appearing ...

'' (1902), speaking "with the voice of tart and faintly impatient adulthood". Cats (albeit non-speaking ones) are also central to Sleigh's stand-alone novel ''

No One Must Know ''No One Must Know'' is a 1962 children's novel by the English writer Barbara Sleigh. The story concerns a small group of children living in English town, sandwiched between a railway and a warehouse, in a row of rented, white-painted terraced h ...

'' (1962), about children hiding a cat and her kittens from a landlord who has banned pets."Other books by Barbara Sleigh"
Alienor's Words Page; Deep Purple Cat (ntlworld.com/alienor). Retrieved 22 October 2015. Another novel of Sleigh's suitable for the age group is ''The Snowball'' (1969).

Books

*'' Carbonel: the King of the Cats'', (Puffin

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

) *''The Kingdom of Carbonel'', (Bobbs-Merrill

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy ...

) *''Carbonel and Calidor'', (Kestrel Books hardback)

References

External links

*{{isfdb series, 32550, Carbonel British children's novels Series of children's books Novels about cats Novels by Barbara Sleigh