Da Vinci's Cat
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
illustrated by Paul O Zelinsky
ISBN: 9780063015265
Published 2021
274 pages
Recommended ages 8-12
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Federico Gonzaga (based on a real character) is being held captive in the Vatican Palace in Rome by the Pope to ensure his father's loyalty.
Around him, temperamental Renaissance artists argue and bicker. When a mysterious white cat followed by a modern-day art dealer and a young girl named Beatrice (Bee) enters the palace through a magical wardrobe (sound familiar?), a chain of events is set off that may change the course of history if Federico and Beatrice cannot set the balance right again.
A children's book set in the Renaissance is not easy to come by.
A children's book that includes big-name characters like Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci, and big name art like the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The School of Athens is even harder to find. Add two likable children (one in disguise) and some time travel and you have a heady combination.
Content Considerations
Some of my readers will be concerned to learn that when the modern-day child, Bee, is introduced, she is described as having two moms. She calls one Mom and one Moo and they are referred to multiple times. Not very believably, when she tells Federico about them in 1511, his reaction is not one of confusion or disbelief , but his concern is who brings the dowry to the marriage.