The Diary of a Killer Cat (The Killer Cat, 1)

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First sentence: Monday. Okay, okay. So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat. It's practically my job to go creeping around the garden after sweet little eensy-weensy birdy-pies that can hardly fly from one hedge to another. The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine is a book for younger children. It was first published in 1994. This is a humorous book about a cat that kills yet cannot understand why his family are upset with this. He is a ‘cheeky’ kind of character always trying to justify his actions, which the children would like. The illustrations are funny which would be useful in class to keep children engaged. It also has as great sense of sarcasm about it, again useful when introducing the notion of sarcasm as it gives great examples.

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages. However Tuffy did not actually kill the rabbit this time and finally, after a few unfortunate events, manages to prove this to Ellie.

The story is written in the first person. Can you write a story from somebody else’s point of view? If you like this book, here are some other books you might enjoy - including the further adventures of Tuffy the Killer Cat.

Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ways before he ends up in even deeper trouble?Another writing task that could be initiated in using this book, could be one that involves writing in a different form. Called a diary, this book could be used to trigger an activity that involves writing in the form of a diary. Questions such as: How do you structure a diary? How would you structure yours? Using dates, times? Would you name your diary, and write to them?: are all questions can be posed in the lesson to help children think about the different forms a diary can take in itself. Tuffy is grounded for his behaviour. Can you write a new story about a pet who is grounded for their bad behaviour? This book is told from the point of view of Tuffy, a pet cat who drags a dead bird into the house. His owner, a young girl called Ellie is horrified but Tuffy cannot see a problem, "So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat" says Tuffy. He then brings a dead mouse into the house. Before long, Tuffy brings his next victim, the next door neighbor’s rabbit. And this time Tuffy is in deep trouble, Ellie’s parents are very cross.

Find all of the words that the author uses to describe how something is said (e.g. asked, muttered, cried). Make a poster to teach other children about good vocabulary to use in their writing. Another incredible resource from this author. I am so grateful to you for the time taken to prepare these and for the fact of you sharing it freely. So much appreciated. Thank you.Write a diary entry from the point of view of your own (or a friend’s) pet. How does it feel about living with the family? What does it like? What does it dislike? But I showed them. I was Tuffy the Acting Cat, superstar. How was I supposed to know things would get so . . . messy? This is set of guided reading sessions designed to be used alongside The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine. These resources can be used across KS2.