"Vincent" by Jim Edgar. Copyright © 2OO5 by Jim Edgar.
"The Rescue" from The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory. Copyright © 1987 by Cleveland Amory (text); copyright © 1987 by Edith Allard (illustrations). By permission of Little, Brown and Co., Inc.
"Kitty at the Keyboard" by Steve Dale. Copyright © 2OO5 by Steve Dale.
"Spooky Gives Us a Scare" by Janine Adams. Copyright © 2OO5 by Janine Adams.
"My Mother's Cat" by Renie Burghardt from the book Angel Cats. Copyright © 2004 by Allen and Linda Anderson. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, Calif.
"The Real Thing" by Beth Adelman. Copyright © 2OO5 by Beth Adelman.
"Bengal Turkey Divine" by Miriam Fields-Babineau. Copyright © 2OO5 by Miriam Fields-Babineau.
Excerpt from Rest in Pieces by Rita Mae Brown, copyright © 1992 by American Artist, Inc. Used by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
"Letter to Louise, Part III: Being the Meditations of Midnight Louie in New York City" from Cat in a Golden Garland
by Carole Nelson Douglas. Copyright © 1997 ky the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.
"The Noel Cat" by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Copyright © 2OO5 by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.
"Kitty 'Box'-ing Day" by Betsy Stowe. Copyright © 2OO5 by Betsy Stowe.
"The Mystery of Musetta's Mistletoe" by Clea Simon. Copyright © 2OO5 by Clea Simon.
"Holiday Safety" by Christine Church. Copyright © 2OO5 by Christine Church.
"The Purr-fection of Christmas Ritual" by Wendy Christensen. Copyright © 2OO5 by Wendy Christensen.
"God Rest Ye Merry, Kitty Cats" by Laurie Loughlin from Catmas Carols. Copyright © 1993 by Laurie Loughlin. Used with permission of Chronicle Books, LLC, San Francisco.
"Buster the Feline Retriever" by James Herriot from James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot. Copyright © 2OO3 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC, and Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
A Note From the Publisher
The seven-week-old kitten featured on this book's cover was found by our cover photographer at a local animal shelter in New Jersey. After the photo shoot, the kitten visited our offices in New York, where she was adopted by Chamberlain Bros, editor Anna Cowles and her fiance, Fritz.
The kitten was named Bridget in honor of the Brooklyn Bridge, and she now happily resides in a lovely apartment in downtown Manhattan, where she spends her days playing with ribbons and tinsel balls, napping with her owners, and looking out the window at the Brooklyn Bridge. She can't wait for her first Christinas.
