A drunken thief feeds a starving, stray kitten from a vessel of stolen milk. This kindness later creates a dramatic event at the gates of Heaven. A Kitten in Paradise was written by Cicely Hamilton in the late 1920(s) or early 1930(s). It is one of twenty-one tales in the anthology, Puss in Books, copyright 1932.…

A Cat May Look At A King was written by Jan Struther in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Struther also created the character, Mrs. Miniver, popular in the late 1930s and 1940s. In this story, a royal court cat blindly worships and unquestioningly trusts the King, until the King kicks him. At that point, a new perspective is formed for both the cat an…

Cleveland Amory rescues a starving, hurt, stray white cat from a New York City alley on a snowy Christmas Eve night in 1977. This cat became known as his much loved cat, Polar Bear, featured in three of his best selling novels. In this episode Phebe reads chapter one, The Rescue from The Cat Who Came for Christmas.…

The Paradise of Cats, written in 1864, by Emile Zola is the story of a fat, comfortable cat who longs to leave his luxurious life, and run wild on Paris rooftops. Told in the cat's own words, the cat soon discovers that life on the street is not as free and beautiful as expected.By Phebe Phillips

The Fat Cat, written in 1959 by the collaborative author group named, Q. Patrick, is categorized as suspense. It's a vintage short story that word plays on the childhood rhyme, The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat, but this is not a child's story. It follows a cat, who follows a soldier through a treacherous jungle during WWII. The Literary Catcast is dedica…

By Phebe Phillips

By Phebe Phillips

By Phebe Phillips

Phebe Phillips brings to life the 15th century Japanese legend, The Boy Who Drew Cats. This legend has been retold by many different authors. Phebe uses Margaret Hodges adaptation as her narration guideline. She pulls you into the story to learn that what sometimes is perceived as a person's greatest flaw, can actually become their greatest good fo…

The Galloping Cat is an entertaining, funny poem about a quirky, martyr cat that gallops about doing good. He encounters an invisible angel on a garden path and a fight ensues. Phebe Phillips discusses and reads the poem, The Galloping Cat by the late British poet, Stevie Smith (1902-1971). This poem is an excerpt from the book, All the Poems by St…

Ep 005- Mr. Cat, and The Black Velvet Hair Bow features the vintage book, Mr. Cat (1960) by George Freedley. It's a sweet, true story of his much-loved kitty, Mr. Cat. This episode is excerpted from a scene where Mr. Cat raids Madison Avenue sew shops bringing the actress, Lillian Gish, a black velvet hair bow.…

Are you a cat lover, a book reader, and possibly a hot tea drinker? The Literary CatCast is the Podcast for you. Short excerpts are read from vintage and current books. Episodes are whistled in by a tea kettle, and guest cats voice episode meows. Fill your favorite teacup and get ready. You may find a new book, fall in love with a new cat character…

In this episode Phebe chats about the history of cats on ships, even as far back as the Egyptians, and Vikings. Did you know black cats were lucky? A tea kettle whistles her listeners into a legend about Noah’s Ark, and how the cat first appeared. The reading is taken from The First Ship’s Cat, from Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, on page 49 ins…

This episode is taken from an out-of-print book from 1952 titled, Charles—The Story of a Friendship. The book is about distinguished British publisher, Michael Joseph's relationship with his Siamese Cat named Charles. In this episode Mr. Joseph discusses that the names given to individual cats shed interesting light on their human owners. Remember …

Phebe Phillips shares with you a few letter about cats. After Cleveland Amory wrote his first book, The Cat Who Came for Christmas, about the stray he rescued, later naming Polar Bear, he received a lot of letters from cat owners. Two of his favorite letters were about a cat named Jose—taken from Amory's Cat-Smartness file, and a cat named Arthur, …