Slinky Malinki

Lynley Dodd fans may know Slinky Malinki as one of the cats that gets chased in HAIRY MACLARY SCATTERCAT. In this book we learn all about the midnight-black cat with the kink in the end of its tail. Slinky is a nice cat as long as the sun is shining. But once the sun goes down and the night darkens, he prowls the neighborhood as a literal cat burglar. Nothing is safe as the feline rapscallion makes off with whatever he wants. Then one night he goes too far and steals far more than usual. Slinky gets caught by his family and is eternally shamed. This is an interesting book and rather different from the Hairy MacLary books. This tail offers an example of rehabilitation. Having been caught and shamed, the cat refuses to give in to the desire to steal at night. They say a leopard can not change its spots but this cat definitely does. Check it out.

I don't understand why the SLJ critic panned this adorable book, either. My daughter, now 3 has had this story and now most of Lynley Dodd's stories read to her and she loves them. We got it in England for her when she was just 2 and she asked for it every night for a year. I love the cat, Slinky, as well as the other characters Dodd writes about (Hairy McClairy the dog and the neighborhood bully cat, Scar-face Claw). I love the stories and the illustrations but what matters most is my daughter, who isn't short of a few books, goes back again and again to these stories. They pass the kid test!

Ignore the School Book Journal review above. This is a great little book! I have read it many times to my son and he's always riveted. I like the book, the word play, the way things work out in it. I would recommend it to anyone.

My 18 month old has loved this since she received it as a gift for Christmas at 12 months. We read it like it is a Dr. Seuss rhyme and it is so much fun. She laughs when Slinky Malinky gets all tangled up and says UH OH - that's a No No when he takes things that aren't his. We read it everyday!

This is one of my favorite "Hairy Maclary" books. My toddler and I just love it. It's about a cat named Slinky Malinki who is "blacker than black, a stalking and lurking adventurous cat". Note the rhyme. The text is a poem, a really cute (but not too cute)poem. Think of T.S. Eliot for very young children. During the day, Slinky Malinki is a "cheeky and cheerful" cat who chases after leaves and rolls in the sun. But at night he turns into (gasp!) a thief. He steals knick-knacks from the neighbors. One night he steals rather more than usual, gets caught, and ends up "in disgrace". As I've said before (see my review of HAIRY MACLARY, SIT), the whole of the "Hairy Maclary" books is greater than the sum of their parts. So while this is an extremely well-told story with very good illustrations, the best part of it (for me, at least) is seeing Slinky Malinki, who is usually a peripheral character, take center stage.