The Mousehole Cat

The Mousehole Cat(1991) is achildren's bookwritten byAntonia Barberand illustrated byNicola Bayley. Based on the legend ofCornishfishermanTom Bawcockand thestargazy pie,it tells the tale of his cat, 'Mouser' (or 'Mowzer'), whom accompanies him on a fishing expedition in particularly rough and stormy seas. The book has won several awards, including the 1998British Book Awardfor Illustrated Children's Book of the Month. Three years after its publication, in 1994, the book was adapted into an animated film and  livepuppet show;The Mousehole Catis being adapted as a stage musical.
InCornwall, in thesouthwest of England, lies the coastal fishing village ofMousehole(/ˈmaʊzəl/); the town and its harbour are protected from the ocean by a manmadeseawallwith a single entry point for boats, known as the "mousehole", thus earning the town its name.Tom Bawcock(only called 'Tom' in the book) and his loyal black-and-white female cat, Mowzer, have long enjoyed their tranquil lives of daily fishing, cooking their catch and relaxing in Mousehole. Tom would cook many different dishes each evening from the bounty of the sea; morgy broth (afish stew),haketopped with golden mashed potatoes,kedgereewith smokedling, andstargazypie on Sundays. One year, however, a particularly violent winter season prevents the fishermen from venturing out to sea, causing the entire region to nearly starve. Tom and Mowzer decide to brave the stormy weather, setting-out to catch enough fish to save the town. When the storm intensifies during their trip, it is represented by a giant 'Storm-Cat'. Upon seeing this great feline spirit, Mowzer saves the day by "soothing" the tempest with her purring, which eventually becomes an operatic "song" in which she sings from the boat in a human voice. As the Storm-Cat is lulled to sleep, Tom is then able to haul-in his catch and return to harbour. When they arrive back at the village, the entire catch is cooked into various dishes, including half-a-hundred"star-gazy" pies, on which the villagers feast.
The book is laid-out to encourage reading with a child; it is wide enough to fit across two laps.The illustrations are "framed" within the pages, with a general background of a seascape and the illustration related to the page shown in a window.
Besides winning the Illustrated Children's Book of the Year at the 1991British Book Awardsand the British Design Production Award (Children's Books), the book was shortlisted for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize children's choice, the Children's Book Award, and was commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
In 1994,Grasshopper Productionsand The Red Green & Blue Company created an animated version of the tale forChannel 4, narrated bySiân Phillips.In 2011, the tale was adapted into a puppet show by PuppetCraft.The book has been featured onJackanory Juniorfor theBBC, read byShobna Gulati; it was first broadcast on 22 June 2007.
The 1994 animated version was followed by a 6-minute "making-of" featurette showcasing the production of both the book and the animated version. This featurette is included with the film's home media releases. At the end of the film, the town is shown lit up at nighttime, with real stargazy pies being fed to local cats.