The Snow Cat

Ethel M. King-Shaw is a professor emeritus of curriculum and instruction
at the University of Calgary.

In her short life, Dayal Kaur Khalsa wrote and illustrated several books
and received many prestigious awards. After her death in 1989, a friend
found the manuscript and paintings for The Snow Cat and the book has
since been published.

A series of provocative questions are asked, beginning with “Have you
ever lived alone at the edge of the woods in the middle of winter?”
Elsie feels very lonely living in a small house by the woods. She wishes
she had a cat for company, an “unhungry” cat as there is no extra
food to feed it. Soon her prayers are answered, but in an unexpected
way. Following a big storm, the snow cat appears. Elsie has to use her
imagination to solve the problem of how to feed it. After she breaks her
promise to God, a great change takes place; nevertheless, she finds ways
to still have fun with her friend.

Throughout the book many beautiful sensory images and emotional
responses are evoked. The author has been very creative in stirring the
imagination of children. Each page is enhanced by striking
illustrations—pictures that are clear, deceivingly simple, and richly
colored.

Both story and illustrations are a delight. This is a book children
will want to read many times.