Basil and the Cave of Cats (Great American Detective #3? #2?) Eve Titus. Illustrated by Paul Galdone. 1971. 101 pages. [Source: Library] [Link to cover image]
First sentence: Miniature cats! Breathes there, in all the world, a mouse who is not stirred by those two words? Did the miniature monsters actually exist? Our leading mouse scientists were not certain, but they all believed the answer would be found in the Orient.
Premise/plot: This one was originally titled Basil and the Pygmy Cats. (It's being rebranded/republished as Basil and the Cave of Cats. On this one Basil and Dr. David Q. Dawson go traveling the world. There are two sub-stories--they are out to help a friend/ruler get his kingdom back AND to solve the so-called mystery of if miniature cats ever existed.
My thoughts: I thought this one was lacking in mystery, lacking as a detective story. It's like the series has taken a turn from being a detective story with a traditional detective and turned into a archaeological quest. This one was 99% world-building. That sounds like it would be a good thing. But imagine it more as an encyclopedia type of world-building. Readers are essentially getting a text-book education on mouse lore that is thousands of years old. Was I interested? Not really. It requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief. Like mice traveling the globe; mice ruling countries. It was just a little too much for me to really enjoy. I much preferred the idea of a mouse living in a mouse town in the cellar of Sherlock Holmes' residence.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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