Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin

The characters and their personalities were wonderful. Especially Grimalkin! Each chapter held its own adventure! It was Hope filled and encouraging!

Cute old fashioned tale.

This book was so fun and it really drove empathy for those living before/during the revolutionary war. Many historical fiction books are slow and hard but this one is light and intreaguing. ,my kids wanted more when it was over.

…would enjoy having this book in their collection. Great gift.

I was thankful to find this well written and interesting biography of a highly skilled American artist. The book focuses on his childhood, and is very enjoyable s as a read aloud to children/grandchildren. We are blessed to live near a museum that is home to many of his works, so I was glad to be able to give my grandchildren an introduction to this artist.

I really loved this book. I used it as a read-aloud for my first grader and preschooler, as it was a part of out homeschooling curriculum. I loved the innocence of Benjamin West and the relationship and respect he had for his parents and their Quaker beliefs. It had me wishing for simpler times. Best of all, my young kids loved the story and would beg for "one more chapter". If you like this book, you should check out "The Valentine Cat" by Clyde Robert Bulla.

I realize this is a children's chapter book, but sometimes all I need is a children's book to see if I want to learn about the person further, and this definitely whetted my appetite for more about Benjamin West. He grew up as a Quaker whose religious beliefs did not involve creating pictures or drawings of anything, so his parents were very hesitant about letting him continue. I adored the story of his cat Grimalkin and the special relationship they shared. He was definitely a different, special cat! It seems so odd in today's times to send your child off to a different city to work and learn from someone else so young! Just wouldn't happen today. I recommend this book for children AND adults.

Benjamin West and his Cat Grimalkin is a wonderful childhood classic. It is a warm and rich story of a boy and his inspirational cat, full of emotional insight of that of a quaker boy. My children (and husband) looked forward to every chapter each evening. This book is based on the life of the father of American painting! We took it further and made paintbrushes the way Benjamin West did and well as mixing up different soils for "colors" of the earth and painted different animals. What a great read!