Don't Get Your Tinsel In A Tangle product reviews

Miss Five loved this book. It was fun to read, and with Christmas fast approaching, a lovely way to talk about the season. Christmas to her is a time to enjoy being with people you love, a time when things wind down so that families can spend more time together away from the pressures of work. Humphrey, on the other hand, did not approve of anything Christmas related. He did not like the noise, the heat, the weird food humans eat, the silly costumes - none of that is any fun for a cat, so his way of coping was to go away by himself and spend the day asleep!

For her fifth birthday recently, Miss Five got a new puppy, so she could relate to Tiny's arrival at Humphrey's house. Puppies are naturally boisterous and love to play, so Miss Five enjoyed her antics as she played with the tinsel and admired the food. She got into all sorts of mischief (as puppies do!), breaking things, stealing food, and yapping at the top of her voice. In fact, she did everything Humphrey hated! She even left a puddle on the floor, something Humphrey would never have done.

The meeting between cat and puppy was predictably disastrous. At first, Humphrey ignored the hyperactive newcomer, and pretended to snooze. But that did not help. Tiny kept at him until he was goaded to the point of attack. At first, Humphrey chased her, but then he realised he was actually enjoying himself and a truce was reached. They finally made friends and presumably lived happily ever after!

The illustrations are bright and lively, echoing the Christmas theme. My personal favourite was the picture of Humphrey scowling while adorned with red and yellow tinsel. He looked so cute despite giving the impression that he was about to start snarling at Tiny, who was giggling as she leapt out of the way!

There is a moral to the story. which Miss Five quickly picked up on. Life is no fun if you are grumpy about everything on principle and refuse to interact with other people. However, if you make the effort, you can make friends and find that you enjoy spending time with them. It does not matter if you do not always agree on things or like the same activities - there is always a point where you have something in common that you can enjoy together. Humphrey and Tiny could not be more different, and Humphrey still hated Christmas, but they could still agree to differ and build on their friendship. Perhaps they have a lesson to share with some of our politicians!