The Nine Lives of Furry Purry Beancat: The Library Cat; Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Rob Biddulph

Like most cats, Furry Purry Beancat loves a catnap. Unlike most cats, Furry Purry Beancat often wakes up in a whole new place in another one of her nine lives. After her latest snooze, the little fluff ball has woken up in her local library and there is trouble afoot. There are rumours that the library is going to be shut down. Will Furry Purry Beancat and her library friends be able to come up with a plan to save the books from the bulldozers…

This is the third book in the series of stories - that can be read in any order - about the adventure-loving Furry Purry Beancat. With a town mayor who is determined to shut down the local library, the sprightly little moggie faces her biggest challenge yet. But if anyone can save the day, it is the kind, caring and heroic Furry Purry Beancat. Along with the help of a couple of disgruntled spiders and a mouse with attitude, the library-dwelling animals should be more than a match for Mayor Angela Haycroft just as long as they can avoid the cleaner and her life-ending bug spray.

​With humour, fun, friendship, adventure and cunning plans at its heart, this is a cracking little story that really is the cat’s whiskers. I love the library setting and how the importance of it to the community is emphasised by all of the different people that use it and the passion that everyone has for keeping it open. I would hate to see my local library shut down, in fact, I borrowed this very book from there.

Brilliantly written by Philip Ardagh and with fabulous illustrations by the awesome Rob Biddulph, this is a purr-fect chapter book for newly fluent readers.

Recommended for 6+.