A heartwarming early reader about a tailless cat is an inspiring story about being different and learning to trust.
BEAUFORT, South Carolina, November 7, 2023 – A street cat with a scrappy beginning and with no tail is made to feel other until he is welcomed into a loving family's home. But when the family goes missing, Bob the cat sets out on a perilous journey to find them, and along the way finds himself. With her beautifully illustrated early reader book, Bob Tales: Land of the Woody Warbles, author Susan Sullivan brings a story of self-acceptance, courage, and trust to young children.
Dirty, matted, and smelly, fending for himself for spoiled scraps behind a restaurant was a hard and lonely life for Bob, a sweet cat with no tail. Bullied and beaten by the other alley cats for being different, Bob is rescued by a gentle man who takes him away from the garbaggy place to a warm home with a smiling lady and fresh food and kind pets and fragrant baths and soft bedding. For a while, life was very good for Bob, and he was happy.
But when his cuddle-giving family leaves home, Bob worries they are lost and need his help. Scared to go back into the unforgiving world, the tailless cat sets out to "find" them, beginning an eye-opening adventure meeting many animals very different from him, some friendly, some not, who make it very clear that a cat with no tail is very peculiar indeed.
His encounters direct him to the Land of the Woody Warbles to find the one who can help Bob, and in this dark and spooky place Bob meets creatures even stranger than a cat with no tail, and yet still he is mistreated. What kind of cat has no tail? Lost, tired, forlorn, and feeling hopeless, just when he thinks he should give up he finds encouragement and hope from the unlikeliest of places. New friendships, self-confidence, and trust help bring this perfect tailless cat to a place where he is unconditionally loved and belongs just as he is—with his family.
Susan Sullivan's Bob Tales: Land of the Woody Warbles is a wonderful social emotional learning story for families and educators of young children and is available now wherever fine books are sold.