The Robber Kitten
Hi Guys!
It's story time again! And have I got a good one for you! It's the classic nursery rhyme, The Robber Kitten! What? You say you've never heard of it? Well, there's a reason for that! This particular tale is nothing but random violence from beginning to end!
So this was published by McLoughlin Brothers back in 1891. You can tell from the inscription at the top that Hubert Shaw's mom thought this would be a great Christmas present! Let's take a look and see if it's the kind of thing that we'd like Santa to bring!
Our story opens with the main character, a naughty kitten, who declares that he's through being good!
First thing he does is run off to the woods, where he dishes out some mayhem to an unsuspecting rooster!
Don't forget, kids! This is a McLoughlin Joyful Tales book! Seems like Puss is having a good time at least!
But a life of crime isn't always the life of Reilly if you know what I mean! Our hero tries to grab some baby owls to chow down on, but it doesn't work out so well!
In fact, Puss is teaming up with dogs! That's about as low as you can go when you're a cat!
As you might expect, things go south pretty quick! Puss and Rover start fighting like, you know, cats and dogs! Puss might be the finest swordsman in all France, but Rover's got brute strength on his side! Puss is done!
Our hero gets thrashed, so he starts to cry like, well, a pussy! Serves him right if you ask me!
Next thing you know, he drags himself home to Mamma and swears he'll "never more be bad!" Heck! I guess Hubert Shaw's mom knew what she was doing when she made her kid read this stuff!
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I remember The Disney cartoon of the Robber Kitten-of course it was a more tame version than the book.I don't remember the kitten shooting the rooster's head off-pretty violent for a child's book lol! I love the illustrations here-very well done-another great find!
ReplyDeleteRight you are -- Bowdlerized, as it were.
DeleteSilly Symphony: The Robber Kitten.
I had never heard of the Disney cartoon until I started looking into this -- The few images I saw suggested that it was considerably more tame than this horrible Victorian story =D The illustrations *are* pretty good, though. Thanks!
DeleteI'm speechless. I don't know whether to be more amazed at those guys for printing that or you for finding it.
ReplyDeleteSo, there's a Disney version? If the Flapper says so then it is so. Off to Youtube!
I saw references to the Disney cartoon, but if it has anything to do with this book, then I can see why few people know about it. The Robber Kitten is over the top even by Victorian standards.
DeleteNo wonder there were so many gangsters at the turn of the Century to the 1930s. Imagine kids growing up with this sort of fare. And they thought it was comic books and video games that made today's kids so violent!
ReplyDeleteHa -- Hadn't thought about it, but I think that's right. All those dime novels and nickel "newspapers" were as full of blood and mayhem as anything today. And children's books -- I never really knew it until I got into this stuff, but a lot of them were just as bad.
DeletePeter Pan is an abomination and I cannot believe it is such a hit. Peter is a psycho who kills off lost boys who grow up and the entire story reeks of pedophilia, although that has never been proven about the author. Where there's smoke there is more smoke!
DeleteI meant to send that Peter Pan comment to you. Lots of kid's books are horrifying, Disney wouldn't dream of animating Snow White as it is written. Decidedly, er...grim!
DeleteI'm beginning to to think that we were robbed of a lot of things that made childhood terrifying! I need to read the original Peter Pan. I've heard the original Grimm fairy tales were awful, too.
Delete“They put a pair of iron shoes into burning coals. They were brought forth with tongs and placed before her. She was forced to step into the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell down dead.”
DeleteSnow White, the evil queen gets hers.