Another Rogue Review from across the pond! Once again, advance apologies in case this book is not available in your home country. All the more reason to go visit Scotland!

Four Ducks on a Pond by Nicholas the Cat with Annabel Carothers

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During my three weeks in Scotland in May 2011, we spent a week on the island of Iona. It was one of the best experiences I had in Scotland. Getting to Iona, though, is a tricky venture. You have to take a large ferry from the city of Oban to the island of Mull. On Mull, you board a bus that takes you on a long ride across the island on a winding, single lane road. From there, you get on a much smaller ferry boat and finally arrive on Iona.

After our week on Iona, we headed to Edinburgh via train. We has some time between our arrival on the mainland and our train trip, though, so I and a few other people stopped in a bookstore in Oban. I saw this book there and bought it for two serious, well thought out reasons:

Reason #1: I had literally been on Mull less than an hour earlier, and this book takes place on Mull.
Reason #2: It was “written” by a cat.

This book tells the story of life on Mull from a cat’s perspective. I will admit that I have a very large place in my heart for all sorts of small fuzzy animals, cats included, and that was a big part of the draw for me to this book. However, I think even if that sort of thing isn’t your cup of tea, this book is still a fun read. Life on Mull may not have the same sort of challenges that life in a city may have, but it is hardly carefree. Nicholas recounts incidents with foot-and-mouth disease, family life, and general happenings on Mull with a wise and engaging tone. I’m obviously biased because of my positive experience in Iona and necessity of Mull in the time I spent on Iona, but I really enjoyed this light read.