The people of Castleto'n, or Castle Town, Vermont, are justly proud of two of its early citizens. One was the carpenter who built there the most beautiful church pulpit in the state and the other was a girl who designed and fashioned a carpet so lovely that it now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the city of New York. On that carpet, among other designs, is pictured a most fascinating blue cat.
Why a blue cat? Ah, well—thereby hangs this tale; a tale of enchantment which some will call pure Americana, some folk lore, and some a tale of chivalry. For the blue cat is like a knight on a quest. His quest is to find a hearth to fit the song the river taught him and to teach the owner of the hearth to sing that song.
Many adventures befell the blue cat before he fulfilled his mission; many strange and interesting characters crossed his path. There were Ebenezer Southmayd the pewterer and John Gilroy the weaver; Arunah Hyde who wove the Dark Spell and Thomas Royal Dake the artistic carpenter who made the pulpit. There was also the girl Zeruah Guernsey who fashioned the carpet. And, by no means to be forgotten, there was the Guernsey's barn cat, not a blue cat, to be sure, but a remarkable creature in her own right.
Trusting children and other rare people will accept this beautiful story on faith. For the skeptical there is proof enough—the enchanted town of Castleto'n itself, the pulpit and the carpet. And, its power no whit diminished by time, for any mortal who will listen with the heart as well as the ear, there is the Bright Enchantment and the river's song which the blue cat learned under a blue moon in a Vermont meadow more than a hundred years ago.
—from the original edition dust jacket
"An imaginative, poetic, and often amusing story, written with great skill." — Kirkus Reviews
Once in a blue moon, a blue kitten is born. And that little cat knows how to hear the song of the river — the ancient song of creation, as old as the world itself. Occasionally there have been men and women who were born knowing the song, but mortals cannot teach it to each other. Only a blue cat can do that, one who sings and believes in the song.
This is the story of the blue cat sent by the river to restore the days of Bright Enchantment, when there was beauty and peace and contentment in people's hearts. But now a dark spell is enveloping Castle Town, brewing an obsession with gold and possessions. The river's song declares that riches and power will fade, while the beauty of handmade crafts endures, and the blue cat must find a mortal who will not only listen to the song but also sing it. Inspired by the real-life artistry of 19th-century Vermont crafters, this charmingly illustrated 1950 Newbery Honor winner continues to captivate young dreamers.
Reprint of the Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1974 edition.
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