DONALDSON, Julia Tabby McTat

SIGNED BY AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, WITH A DOODLE

Large 4to., illustrated laminate boards in full colour and gilt; together in the matching unclipped dustwrapper (£10.99 to front flap) with ‘By the creators of The Gruffalo’ circular sticker to the upper panel; decorative green cat endpapers; pp. [xxxii]; very minimal bump to head of spine, else fine; the wrapper very near fine, aside from light creasing mostly affecting the spine tips, and a short 2cm closed tear to the foot; the book is now housed in a custom-made navy blue slipcase.

First edition, with full number line 1-9 as called for. This copy additionally signed by both Donaldson and Scheffler to the title page, the latter providing a doodle of a cat with a speech bubble and musical notation beneath his name.  

Donaldson’s seventeenth collaborative work with Axel Scheffler, who here provides his now instantly-recognizable illustrations to this wonderful children’s story.  Here, the story follows the ‘tail’ of a busker’s cat, who is separated from his owner after an unfortunate accident. Despite trying to forge a new life for himself as a domesticated moggy, and even having a family of his own, he eventually sets out to try and find his Fred. Can Tabby reconcile his old life with the new? 

Speaking of her inspirations for the story, Donaldson later claimed in an interview that “I’ve always been a cat lover… And as I’ve been a busker myself, I thought Tabby could be a busker’s cat.” “In a way, Tabby McTat is my most complex picture book, because instead of it simply being about someone who has an aspiration, or somebody who faces difficulties but gets what they want in the end, it’s about being torn”, she continued, “To begin with, Tabby just wants to get back to Fred the busker, who he’s been separated from. Then he falls in love and has a family, but he still thinks about Fred and is torn between the two – until that gets resolved”. 

Another charming children’s story from this now award-winning and much revered duo. 

SKU: 1800224