Books with author Emily Cheney Neville

It’s Like This Cat is an award-winning novel written by Emily Neville and published in 1963. The book won the Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature just one year after it was published, and remains to this day one of the most loved works of children’s fiction available. It follows the story of a young boy named Dave Mitchell who is only 14, but has constant fights with his father. The fights normally end with Dave storming out of the house as his mother has an asthma attack triggered by the shouting and emotional turmoil. Dave’s cat – which he got simply to do the exact opposite of what his father wanted, which was to get a dog – soon begins to change his life as it leads him to meet a young boy named Tom and a girl named Mary. The two delightful children lead Dave to new realizations about life, and soon help him realize the complexities of his own family’s existence as well. The story is written in simple language, and meant for children who are aware enough to face family related issues, albeit told in a playful and eye-catching fashion. Emily Neville uses her delightful writing style and exceptional skill to lure both adults and children little by little into her captivating and quite realistic world, where genuine solutions can be found even to the most problematic of family troubles. Fun, enjoyable, and also emotionally intense at some level, It’s Like This Cat is not your usual children’s story. Its thought-provoking ideas were well ahead of the era it was written in, but came at an opportune time when the mentality of younger people in America were about to be radically transformed. For anyone who would enjoy a fun, exciting and highly meaningful book that is also full of wisdom, It’s Like This Cat by Emily Neville is a highly recommended peace of children’s literature.

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat.Dave Mitchell and his father yell at each other a lot, and whenever the fighting starts, Dave's mother gets an asthma attack. That's when Dave storms out of the house. Then Dave meets Tom, a strange boy who helps him rescue Cat. It isn't long before Cat introduces Dave to Mary, a wonderful girl from Coney Island. Slowly Dave comes to see the complexities in people's lives and to understand himself and his family a little better. Winner, 1964 Newbery MedalNotable Children's Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat. My father talks a lot anyway. Maybe being a lawyer he gets in the habit. Also, he’s a small guy with very little gray curly hair, so maybe he thinks he’s got to roar a lot to make up for not being a big hairy tough guy. Mom is thin and quiet, and when anything upsets her, she gets asthma. In the apartment—we live right in the middle of New York City—we don’t have any heavy drapes or rugs, and Mom never fries any food because the doctors figure dust and smoke make her asthma worse. I don’t think it’s dust; I think it’s Pop’s roaring. The big hassle that led to me getting Cat came when I earned some extra money baby-sitting for a little boy around the corner on Gramercy Park. I spent the money on a Belafonte record. This record has one piece about a father telling his son about the birds and the bees. I think it’s funny. Pop blows his stack.