The Story of Tantrum O’Furrily

Author: Cressida Cowell

Illustrations: Mark Nicholas

Publisher: Hodder

Details: 32pp, £12.99, hardback

ISBN: 9781444933802

When I first saw this book, I was very excited. Having previously taught in key stage 2, I have read most of the books in Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon series and loved them. The title of this new story also intrigued me - a cat called Tantrum, what an amazing name. I have my own pet cat who has quite a personality and I couldn’t wait to read this book to my Reception class.

What surprised me was that Tantrum O’Furrily is actually the narrator, and the main part of the story is about a kitten called Smallpaw. The kitten lives with his owner, who warns him that outside the house are bad, stray cats. He asks for a story but she replies that there are no stories inside, only outside. One night, she leaves the catflap open and Smallpaw creeps outside to find a story. What he finds, though, is a sneaky fox.

Although Tantrum turns out to be crucial to the plot, he isn’t a leading character in the text and, initially, I felt a bit disappointed. When I first shared this book with my class, they echoed this sentiment.

When they saw the front cover, there was a chorus of “Awww, what a cute cat!” They laughed at the name Tantrum and talked about what kind of cat might deserve that name, and what sort of exploits he might get up to. However, when we finished reading the book for the first time, one child said: “But Tantrum wasn’t really in it. I thought he was going to be naughty!” It took a second reading for the children to realise that while Tantrum was in the story, he was narrating, not a main character.

There was some disappointment from the class that Tantrum was not featured more. However, they loved the sneaky fox. One child said: “He’s tricking the cat with his words!” Another said: “Oh no, he’s licking his lips - poor Smallpaw!” They were all totally silent and hanging on every word as the fox lured in Smallpaw. This part reminded me of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, gently persuading his victim closer and closer.

When I asked the children which part of the story was their favourite, they unanimously voted for the fox “because that’s what makes the story exciting”. One commented: “It makes you feel scared because you don’t want Smallpaw to get hurt.” For Reception children, the part with the fox was also the easiest element to understand, and they were able to appreciate it on this level without a deeper comprehension of some of the more complex elements of the story.

This is the kind of book with hidden depths. Each time you read it, you notice something new about the characters, the storyline or the illustrations. I think this book would be better suited to children in KS1, who might be able to identify some of the key themes, such as creating your own stories and adventures, the links to a fairy tale/fable structure and the story-within-a-story plotline. The illustrations throughout the book are dark, and sometimes foreboding. The small splashes of colour within those illustrations draw your attention to key characters and features, and again add to the depths of the story.

I asked the children if they liked the book and the whole class agreed they did. The reasons they gave were mostly about the fox, with one saying: “I liked the story because it had a funny fox in it” and another commenting: “I liked the story because the part where he tried to trick the cat was my favourite.”

One child said: “I liked Tantrum because he was a good cat … but it would be good if there was another book about him where he was a little bit cheeky.”

Perhaps this could be an idea for a sequel?

Laura Cox is acting deputy head at Leatherhead Trinity School and Children’s Centre, Surrey