Review: The Adventures of Songha

Summary: THE ADVENTURES OF SONGHA is the story of a rare exotic cat, as seen through the eyes of Songha, a beautiful Savannah cat. Songha is half African Serval wildcat and half domestic cat, and this unusual combination sets her apart from most other cats. She has a domestic temperament, but her wildcat blood drives her to seek adventure by escaping from the safety of her wonderful home. Her restlessness takes her into exciting, and sometimes dangerous territory, as she follows her wild urges to run free.

Songha tells us about leaving her African Serval father, to come and live with her new family in Las Vegas, Nevada. She loves her new family, but when she is not allowed to go outside and run free, she begins searching for ways to escape. She doesn’t want to run away from her family. She just wants to run free for a little while, and then come back to her loving home.

From her daring first escape, through an upstairs window, to her confrontation with a notorious wild coyote, Songha gives us a "cat’s eye" view into the heart and soul of this exotic feline. She is wild and sweet, endearing and infuriating, all at the same time. And of course, she is always entertaining. As Songha pursues her adventures, she learns some valuable life lessons along the way, and also gains some much needed wisdom.

This is the story of Songha, the amazing Savannah cat. -- AuthorHouse

I thought THE ADVENTURES OF SONGHA, THE AMAZING SAVANNAH CAT by Linda R. Caterine was a very enjoyable book. The story about the adventures of an exotic Savannah cat is a relatively short chapter book (66 pages) and geared for kids aged 9 - 12 -- my daughter is the ideal age for it. I started out reading the book with her; but unfortunately, it got put aside during the busy holidays. Since she spent last tonight getting ready for her first day back at school and didn't have time to read it with me, I decided to finish it on my own. She can always go back and read it by herself later.

The book is actually based on the author's real-life experiences with her Savannah cat, Songha. Before reading THE ADVENTURES OF SONGHA, I was not familiar with this breed of cat; however, the author does a great job of explaining the origins of this very beautiful and rare animal at the beginning of the book. Ms. Caterine even dedicates the book to her cat Songha and pays tribute to Savannah cat breeders who are working to perfect this breed.

The story was told in Songha the cat's voice; and I found it to be very entertaining. Songha is an exotic cat who was always looking for things to get into and ways to escape from her safe, comfortable home. Needless to say, Songha's adventures were exciting (and at times very funny.) I have no doubt that her owners were constantly being challenged by her behavior, and that's probably what inspired Ms. Caterine to write this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Songha's witty insight into people and other animals as well as her ideas of self-importance!

I liked that each chapter in the book told a different story about Songha's exploits -- a few of them were actually very funny. I was especially intrigued by the last chapter when Songha assisted in capturing a wild coyote. The author does a great job of having Songha "explain" her antics to a young reader, and she also ends each chapter with a poem. The various poems actually summarize the adventures of Songha which were told in the prior chapter.

I think that THE ADVENTURES OF SONGHA is a terrific book for young readers. I can really see children who are animal lovers (or better yet, cat lovers) enjoying the story of Songha and her many exploits.