The Cheshire Cheese Cat

I received a copy, via NetGalley, of the first 37 pages of The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randal Wright.
 
Here is the synopsis off of the NetGalley page:
The unlikely alliance between a cheese-loving cat and the Cheshire Cheese inn’s mice is a story of deception, intrigue and daring-do that culminates in the historic chop room of the Cheshire Cheese with the wholly unexpected appearance of no-less a personage than Victoria Regina, the Queen of England herself.
 
It is published by Peachtree Publishers (you can follow them on Twitter, @PeachtreePub)

My thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright.


It started off very similarly to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  Classics like those by Dickens are not normally by genre of choice, but I enjoyed the spoof and humor behind it.

It is the story of Skilly (an alley cat) and Pip (a mouse) and their unlikely alliance.  The book is set at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub in Dickensian Era London.  Skilly is hired (upon suggestion by Mr. Dickens himself) to be the pub's chief mouser.  Pip is scared, as to be expected, until he he caught by Skilly.  It's then we learn that Skilly can't stand the taste of mice (or their slimy tails) and lets Pip go free in exchange for all the cheese Skilly can eat.

The language and tone of the book reminded me of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (which I love).

I was unable to finish as my digital copy only included 37 pages.  

I would recommend this book to other readers, however, probably not elementary or middle school readers.  I think the language and setting / time period are would just be over the average 5th grade reader's head.  

All in all, I give this book a 3.5 out of 5.  I felt I couldn't give it a higher score because I wasn't able to read the entire book.  What I read, however, I did enjoy.

*I downloaded (for free) a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.*