Name: The Nine Lives of Aristotle
ISBN: 9780763622602

Dick King-Smith

Aristotle, a little white kitten, goes to live with Bella Donna, a witch in an old cottage, where he finds so many opportunities for risky adventures that he soon has only one life left. 15,000 first printing.

The Nine Lives of Aristotle

Sarah Sammis

The Nine Lives of Aristotle by Dick King-Smith is about a young kitten who finds an unusual forever home. Aristotle is a white clumsy and overly curious kitten. He's chosen by the kindly witch Bella Donna to be her familiar if she can just keep him from burning through his nine lives.

Every kitten I known has gotten into things, taken spills and done things to make the old saying about cats having nine lives seem plausible. For Aristotle, the saying is true and if the witch can't keep him out of trouble he'll run out of lives before he reaches adulthood.

I checked out the book with some trepidations. The last Dick King-Smith novel I'd read with magical (or in that case, extra-terrestrial) overtones, I hated. The illustrations by Bob Graham though caught my eye and I was hopeful that it wouldn't be as off-putting as Harriet's Hare. The book ended up being delightful.