Some books just make you feel good. Cat Miracles - Inspiring True Tales of Remarkable Felines is just such a book. This book is a collection of about 80 true stories of amazing cats.

Organization - or Lack Thereof

The stories are not numbered, and they're not organized in any way whatsoever. There's no table of contents or index in this book. The stories don't even have titles. If you read a story and like it, there's no way to find it again except to search through the book for it. At the beginning of each story, is a black and white drawing of a girl holding a cat. It's a sweet picture. But it's the SAME picture that starts all 80 or so stories. I don't know why they didn't use a different picture for each story. I would like the book better, if I could associate each story with a different picture.

What About The Stories?

Most stories are only 2 or 3 pages. The longest is about 10 pages. Each tells an amazing story about a cat. There are a lot of stories about cats separated from their owners, who are reunited after long separations of time and distance. Other stories are about cats that have saved their owners lives by one method or another.

Here are some examples:

*There's the story of Mercedes, a cat who stowed away in a freight container sailing from England to Australia. Mercedes survived a 50 day journey with no food. Veterinarians theorized that she was able to lick drops of condensation to prevent dehydration.

*Then there's Ronald, a kitty who survived a long day's drive - clinging to the roof rack of the family's station wagon.

*Marty survived being buried alive for 11 days before managing to claw his way out of a concrete-covered hole.

*Satin slipped out of his cage while his family was driving cross-country. Months later he showed up - back home - after traveling over 800 miles.

There are lots of stories about cats that saved people by waking them in time to alert them to fires, or family members who had taken ill. And stories of cats who "adopted" other animals and cared for them.

What I Like About This Book

When I feel in the mood for a quick smile, I grab this book, and randomly pick out a story. All of the stories are sweet, and make me smile.

What I Don't Like

The complete lack of organization bugs me. Having no way to find a specific story is annoying.

There are no pictures other than the same drawing that appears at the start of each story.

There is absolutely no proof that any of these stories are true. If the stories were accompanied by actual photographs of the cats and owners, the stories would seem more credible.

Overall Recommendation

This is a cute, sweet book, that a cat lover might enjoy browsing through. But when it comes to books about animals, I prefer those that have photographs.

Recommended: No