Lola and Lexy's Book List for Christmas Gifts

Lola: Hello and Happy Tuesday! With Christmas upon us, Lexy and I thought it would be a great idea to put together a little list of pawesome gifts. Hey that rhymed! 

Lexy: Very cute, Lola! Since we are book lovers here at the White House, we put together a collection of books that we enjoyed.  There were SO many that we’ve read and it was hard to just pick a few (and they are in no particular order.)  So, without further ado, I present Lola and Lexy’s Book List for Christmas Gifts. 

1. To Catch a Cat: How Three Stray Kittens Rescued Me; by Heather Green. 

Journalist Heather Green was finally putting down roots: in shiny, buzzing Manhattan. She loved her work and threw herself into sixty-hour weeks. Her new boyfriend Matt lived across the river in a New Jersey town that had none of the glamour of New York. The crazy world of cat rescue soon drew Heather in. As she and Matt worked together to figure out how to trap, tame, and find homes for their foundlings, she began to question the life she had back in Manhattan. This is the story of how three furry beings taught one woman about love, community, and what truly matters in life. We reviewed Heather’s book, and you can read it here. This is a great gift for anyone who either does rescue or supports it.

2. CLEO: The Cat Who Mended a Family; by Helen Brown. 

Helen Brown had no intention of adopting a pet when she brought her sons, Sam and Rob, to visit a friend's new kittens. But the runt of the litter was irresistible, with her overlarge ears and dainty chin. When Cleo was delivered weeks later, she had no way of knowing that her new family had just been hit by a tragedy. Helen was sure she couldn't keep her--until she saw something she thought had vanished from the earth forever: her son's smile. The reckless, rambunctious kitten stayed. Through happiness and heartbreak, changes and new beginnings, Cleo turned out to be the unlikely glue that affectionately held Helen's family together. Rich in wisdom, wit, heart, and healing, here is the story of a cat with an extraordinary gift for knowing just where she was needed most. This book made us laugh and cry! Cleo was an extraordinary cat.

3. Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes; Edited by Janiss Garza. 

What do a cozy mystery star, an award-winning blogger and a library supervisor have in common? They are all cats...once homeless cast-offs that were living on the streets or in the wild. Cats that people ignored, or worse, abused. But at some point, fate stepped in and changed the lives of these three cats and nine others. Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes contains the true-life stories of these cats—but each one is told through the feline’s own point of view. Many of our blogging friends are in this book!  And our friend Summer’s human is the editor. You know what we love most about it? The cats tell their own stories! We may be biased, but we love hearing stories in the cat’s voice.

4. Shop Cats of New York; by Tamar Arslanian and Andrew Marttila. 

They inhabit New York City’s most legendary and coziest spots—the Algonquin Hotel, a whiskey distillery, Bleecker Street Records, and a host of yoga studios,  bookstores, and bike shops in between. True New Yorkers—masters of people watching—they perch on wine crates, piles of books, and a classic hotel countertop, taking in the activity around them. Depending on their mood, these cats will ignore enthusiastic admirers, offer a few delightful purrs, or occasionally even take a swipe. Some even find a mouse or two to chase. Shop Cats of New York introduces forty of New York’s favorite felines—all who have an extraordinary story to tell. Being New York cats, how could we not include this book in our list? Not only that, Tamar has been our friend and one of our biggest supporters since we first started our Facebook page almost six years ago, and she wrote a blurb for the back cover of our book. Mommy loves seeing resident cats when she goes to a store, and we feel they need to be supported! The photographs in this book are stunning.

5. Neptune The Special Cat; by Sharon Mohr-McDermott. 

Neptune is a deaf cat who is able to survive and adapt to his environment with the help of his human, dog, and cat friends. Neptune was one of our Facebook friends before he passed away.  A few months ago his mom, Sharon, passed away as well.  We considered them both to be good friends. Sharon was a loving, giving person with a vivacious personality.  She also wrote a blurb for the back cover of our book. Neptune’s story tells the reader that deaf cats can lead a happy, normal life. Deaf cats make pawesome pets, too!

6. Purr Prints of the Heart: A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death and Beyond; by Deborah Barnes. 

Told by Mr. Jazz himself, an ordinary cat by his own admission, "Purr Prints of the Heart" is a touching meow-memoir that will strike a chord with anyone whose heart carries paw-prints of love as he shares the story of his life from kitten hood to his final days on earth in the physical sense. Cleverly written in cat likeness with incredible insight, candor, wisdom, and humor, Mr. Jazz takes readers on a heartfelt journey in book form to offer comfort to all who have had to deal with (or will have to deal with), the inevitable loss of a beloved pet. This is another book that made us laugh and cry.  It’s very true… cats leave purr prints on human’s hearts forever.  If you have a friend who is having a hard time with the loss of their pet, this is the book for them.

7. Champy Pants: A Blind Kitty’s Tale; story by C. Pants, illustrations by Cristian Bernardini. 

 A true story, richly illustrated and told in rhyme, about a tough little Siamese kitty, badly injured and blinded in an accident on a New York City street. Despite his slim odds of survival, the shelter worked tirelessly for months to save him. He was rescued and lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. You all know how much we love a good rescue story! What makes this one even more special to us is that Champy is our friend on Instagram.  This is a beautifully illustrated and rhymed book that people of all ages will enjoy.  Read how Champy went from an injured street cat, to North Shore Animal League, to his new forever home.

8. Miss Dixie and Friends: Tales of Survival; by Rita Branson Bowman, illustrated by Tina Modugno. 

This is a compilation of the true stories of 14 cats told through their eyes. The Author captures their beginnings, their rescues and their triumphs over obstacles. The hope is to inspire and educate children (and adults) that obstacles in our lives can be overcome with the help of others. These cats and thousands of others deserve a chance to live. Education and understanding is the key to Miss Dixie's mission: ALL life matters! We love this book.  Not only is Miss Dixie our Facebook friend, but many of the cats in the book are, too! You’ll enjoy reading their stories as much as we did.  

And of course there is our book, Lola: Diary of a Rescued Cat. You can read about it here. 

We hope you like our list.  What books would you recommend for gifts? 

Lola and Lexy