The Diary of a Killer Cat (The Killer Cat Series Book 1)

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What does ‘woe betide you’ mean? Can you find other examples of older language that isn’t used much any more? Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ways before he ends up in even deeper trouble?

The punctuation, repetition and use of various lengths of sentences enable the book to be an easy yet interesting read, and therefore can be used to help children develop their writing skills. Lessons involving an examination of the writing can be followed up with a lesson in which the children are asked to write an account from the point of view of their own pet involving repetition, exclamation marks, speech marks and the use of both long and short sentences. The comical aspect of this book makes it an extremely useful tool in aiding the development of both children’s reading and writing skills: 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. Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.If you like this book, here are some other books you might enjoy - including the further adventures of Tuffy the Killer Cat.

Tuffy is grounded for his behaviour. Can you write a new story about a pet who is grounded for their bad behaviour? 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. The book can be used to inspire creative writing. As it is from the perspective of a cat (in first person), children could use this technique to practice writing from different points of view. From the point of view of their own pet to the point of view of Ellie in the book there are a range of different perspectives that can be explored.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

The hilarious antics of Tuffy and his family are told by the killer cat himself. Teaching Ideas and Resources: English 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. Absolutely hilarious, perfect as a family read-aloud. The characters are expertly drawn, and Tuffy's protestations about how it wasn't his fault are just brilliant. Highly recommended. This short story is a humorous diary account, written from the point of view of a very naughty and sarcastic ginger cat. The story depicts a casual, child friendly approach to life and death and shows the circle of life from a cats perspective. Throughout the week, Tuffy manages to horrify his owners on a daily basis, by causing chaos in and out of the house. From ruining flower beds, killing birds and even dragging a dead rabbit through the cat flap, Tuffy’s family are beside themselves and cannot understand why he insists on killing things. Tuffy repeatedly justifies his behaviour to the reader, by stating he is a cat and killing is what cats do! Tuffy also seems to try and convince the reader to be on his side, by claiming that ‘it’s practically his job’ and he believes he deserves credit for managing to get the rabbit through the cat flap at all. The twist in the story reveals that Tuffy may not be quite so mischievous after all, which leads to his owners apologising to him and treating him a little more kindly. However, the reader is lead to believe that Tuffy is about to embark on another adventure, as shown by the big cheeky grin on his face in the last illustration of the book. The diary of a killer cat would be suitable to read with children from a 6-9 age range, depending on their reading ability, as I believe they would find it the most comical. It would also be perfect to use with children who have pets (especially cats) as it could spark the conversation of where they go at night when they are able to sneak around the garden and through the streets. Although slightly macabre with its undertones of death throughout, it may be more suitable to use with boys, as they may appreciate the language and humor which seems to be aimed in their direction. I would consider reading this story first before sharing with children, as the content may be less enjoyable depending on your child’s personal experiences. 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.

I took great pleasure in reading this book. Throughout the twists and turns of the cats cheeky comments and actions I had a smile on my face, and I believe that children would thoroughly enjoy reading this book also. The familiar settings of the book causes readers to consider what their own cat (pet) is thinking about their family, and what they could potentially get up to when they go off into the garden and beyond. 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?Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ways before he ends up in even deeper trouble? There are a number of books in the ‘Killer Cat’ series. Can you write a new story involving the character? 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 round the garden after sweet little eensy-weensy birdy-pies that can hardly fly from one hedge to another. So what am I supposed to do when one of the poor feathery little flutterballs just about throws itself into my mouth? I mean, it practically landed on my paws. It could have hurt me." Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about.