The 89th Kitten

Eleanor Nilsson

It all starts with Blackberry, the stray kitten that Miss Berry finds in a street tree. But somehow she can’t stop herself, and soon Knobbles, Shadow, Honey, Strawberry, Lightning, Creamy Paws, Pirate and Panther have come to stay in her lovely fresh house with its big, cottagey garden.

Soon there are twenty, then thirty, then fifty cats! When the number gets to eighty-nine, what started out as a nice thing to do, saving the cats, has turned into a nightmare.

Sandy, the young girl who is helping Miss Berry, has to find a solution. In finding it, she solves her own problem of how to get on with her parents.

Cover art and inside illustration:  Cathy van Ee

Cover designer: Lachlan Madsen

Cover photographic reproduction: Lesley Stroud

About the Author

Eleanor Nilsson loves cats, and has always had one of her own. Their names, in order, were Smokey, Napoleon, Juno, Connie, Hodge, Brown, Tatty, Muffin, Emily and Freya Rose, her current cat. ‘The 89th Kitten’ is about someone who cared almost too much about stray cats. She collected more of them than she should, or at least more than everyone else thought was enough.

‘The 89th Kitten’ was published in Australia, Britain and America, and was translated into Japanese by a member of its Royal Family, Princess Hanako of Hitachi. It was also translated into French and Dutch. It has proved the most popular of all her books, selling most copies in Japan.

Eleanor has had twenty-four books published for children, from picture books to young adult novels. These include ‘A Bush Birthday,’ Parrot Fashion’ and ‘Tatty’ in picture books; ‘Heffalump?’, ‘A Naughty Magpie’ and ‘Pomily’s Wish’ for very young readers; ‘The Black Duck’, ‘The 89th Kitten’ and ‘No One’ for young readers; and ‘The House Guest’, ‘Outside Permission’ and ‘Graffiti Dog’ for young adults. She has also written one book for adults, ‘Writing for Children.’

‘The House Guest’ won three awards in 1992: Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award (Older Readers), Victorian Premier’s Literary Award (Children’s Books), and SA Festival Award for Literature (Children’s Books). It was also translated into Dutch, and in 1996 was shortlisted for The Gold and Silver Pencil Award in Holland. In 1991 ‘The Black Duck’ was shortlisted for the Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award (Younger Readers).

Eleanor Nilsson was born in Stirling, Scotland, but has lived in Adelaide since she was twelve. She has worked as a teacher at secondary and tertiary levels. She has two adult children and four grandchildren. The youngest, Sofia, wants to be a writer too.