To Be A Cat

Matt Haig is a British author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children's novels have won the Smarties Gold Medal, the Blue Peter Book of the Year, been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal three times. His books have received praise from Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, Jeanette Winterson, Joanne Harris, Patrick Ness, Ian Rankin and SJ Watson, among others. The Guardian summed up his writing as 'funny, clever and quite, quite lovely' by The Times and the New York Times called him 'a writer of great talent'. He assures us he has never, ever been a cat, despite rumours he was once a rather grumpy ginger moggy named Jeffrey.

"This is a clawed masterpiece ... A book about being comfortable in your own skin rather than someone else's fur" -- Philip Ardagh Guardian "A darkly comic and richly rewarding story ... Haig's book shines with originality - in the clever plot and the wit - and has a strong moral core" -- Martin Chilton Telegraph "I loved To Be A Cat. It's very funny and surprising and somehow the basic concept, which is certainly an unusual one, works brilliantly. I believed every moment ... Miss Whipmire is a villain from hell but the sense of frustration that Barney has in his dealings with her are quite moving actually; it reminds me of many of the frustrations of childhood. And I absolutely love child protagonists who READ!" -- John Boyne "Here is the black comedy that made Matt Haig's Shadow Forest so irresistible" -- Amanda Craig The Times "A terrific yarn with just the right mix of humour, surprise and page-turning peril" Independent on Sunday