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The Littlest Spycat's First Christmas
Oliver is a kitten who wants Santa to bring him a pony for Christmas. Oliver’s mother thinks he should ask Santa to find him a good home instead. Midnight is a cantankerous old barn cat who is suffering from loneliness due to the fact that Arlo the barn cat is hanging around at Dr. Phelps’ house instead of home where he belongs. Midnight is considering moving in with the chickens.
15 pages, ebook
First published December 15, 2013
13 people want to read
About the author
Jane Oldaker
7 books24 followersBorn and raised in Toronto, Jane escaped to the family farm near Port Perry, Ontario at the earliest opportunity where she lives with her husband, daughter and an assortment of cats, dogs, chickens and horses.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 5, 2014
“The Littlest Spycat’s First Christmas” by Jane Oldaker is a short story about a small kitten named Oliver Tolliver Pinkman, who happened to be pink in color. Derived from Oldaker’s “Arlo the Barncat” series, this story tells about Oliver’s dream of getting a pony for Christmas, and his mother’s dream that he will find a good home.
When they meet for the first time, Arlo regales Oliver with tales of some of his exploits as a secret agent for “the Agency”. Enthralled with Arlo’s stories, Oliver asks if he can be an agent for the Agency, too. Much to his chagrin, Oliver learns he is too young for their training program. But Arlo does have a good solution to help Oliver bide his time while awaiting a time when he can be trained.
“The Littlest Spycat’s First Christmas” is a charming little tale, sure to amuse children and adults alike. Indeed, the entire “Arlo the Barncat” series is entertaining and fun to read. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of these books to anyone looking for a fun read.
When they meet for the first time, Arlo regales Oliver with tales of some of his exploits as a secret agent for “the Agency”. Enthralled with Arlo’s stories, Oliver asks if he can be an agent for the Agency, too. Much to his chagrin, Oliver learns he is too young for their training program. But Arlo does have a good solution to help Oliver bide his time while awaiting a time when he can be trained.
“The Littlest Spycat’s First Christmas” is a charming little tale, sure to amuse children and adults alike. Indeed, the entire “Arlo the Barncat” series is entertaining and fun to read. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of these books to anyone looking for a fun read.
January 12, 2014
This short story is a wonderful tale about wishes, needing company and wanting to belong somewhere. Oliver the kitten wants a pony for Christmas but this doesn't seem possible. He also needs a new home as the farm he was born on doesn't have room for more cats. I was pulled into the story quickly and read it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down! The characters are interesting and lively and the twists and turns of the story kept me interested. I look forward to reading more about the spycats!
February 3, 2022
If you have a soft spot for adorable (and very formal) little kittens, then this is the book for you. Ever the proper kitten, a certain Oliver Tolliver Pinkman wishes for nothing more than a pony for his first Christmas. Now you may be asking, what on earth is a small little kitten like Oliver going to do with a pony? This is a quick read so it shouldn't take long to find out.
December 24, 2023
This is an adorable, feel-good Christmas story, and the author is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Her style is unique, both in writing organization and in plots, themes, and characters, and she does more with a talking animal story than any author since Dodie Smith. Although I must admit, that style does take some getting used to. It's well worth the time.
February 22, 2014
I was given this short book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this short story in one setting. It is a cute story about a kitten who wants a pony for Christmas. I love the stories of Arlo and look forward to more from this author.
I enjoyed this short story in one setting. It is a cute story about a kitten who wants a pony for Christmas. I love the stories of Arlo and look forward to more from this author.
December 26, 2018
2 1/2 stars.
April 27, 2014
I received an electronic version of this book for free on LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I have read by this author. I was expecting a cute, feel-good Christmas story. However, I was quickly confused. I caught on pretty quick that the animals could “talk”. But, it took a little bit to catch on that the humans still just hear animal noises. Also, the humans talk as normal humans do. The problem comes when you aren’t already familiar with the characters, as in my case. There were too many characters too fast for this size of book. I had problems trying to figure out if the animal or human is talking and what the place that character had in the story. I also was rather confused on what “the Agency” was, especially as it sounded like it had something to do both with the humans and the animals. If this is going to be a stand-alone story, I think that it would work better to have very simple character development. Otherwise, I think it would be best to know what book(s) would develop the characters adequately before reading this book.
Spoiler alert!
What I got out of the story seemed very odd. A kitten named Oliver Tolliver Pinkman wishes for a pony (Why? We never know…), is adopted by someone at another farm, gets sick, gets well, becomes a spy cat in the Agency (whatever that means), and gets a pony for Christmas after all (“the oldest pony in the barn”). It really didn’t turn out to be a cute, feel-good Christmas story for me after all.
This seems like it might be the type of story where you already want to be familiar with the characters. This story might work as a chapter in a book or as a book in a series that needs to be read in order. In that case, I would possibly give it a higher rating. But, as a stand-alone book and as a cute feel-good Christmas story, this is not it.
This is the first book I have read by this author. I was expecting a cute, feel-good Christmas story. However, I was quickly confused. I caught on pretty quick that the animals could “talk”. But, it took a little bit to catch on that the humans still just hear animal noises. Also, the humans talk as normal humans do. The problem comes when you aren’t already familiar with the characters, as in my case. There were too many characters too fast for this size of book. I had problems trying to figure out if the animal or human is talking and what the place that character had in the story. I also was rather confused on what “the Agency” was, especially as it sounded like it had something to do both with the humans and the animals. If this is going to be a stand-alone story, I think that it would work better to have very simple character development. Otherwise, I think it would be best to know what book(s) would develop the characters adequately before reading this book.
Spoiler alert!
What I got out of the story seemed very odd. A kitten named Oliver Tolliver Pinkman wishes for a pony (Why? We never know…), is adopted by someone at another farm, gets sick, gets well, becomes a spy cat in the Agency (whatever that means), and gets a pony for Christmas after all (“the oldest pony in the barn”). It really didn’t turn out to be a cute, feel-good Christmas story for me after all.
This seems like it might be the type of story where you already want to be familiar with the characters. This story might work as a chapter in a book or as a book in a series that needs to be read in order. In that case, I would possibly give it a higher rating. But, as a stand-alone book and as a cute feel-good Christmas story, this is not it.
January 31, 2014
This is a cute story about belonging and wishes that may or may not come true. Oliver is a new kitten who lives with his mother in a barn overflowing with barn cats. Thus, his mother wants desperately for Oliver to find a good home elsewhere, so he can grow up big and strong and not have to fight for his life and food. Oliver just wants a pony for Christmas. Why a pony? Oliver really has no idea. He just knows he wants one. The story follows Oliver to a new home and Christmas, where he discovers that life can be very good and sometimes things we want and desire can be good or bad. This story also continues the tale of the other spycat business, by inserting Oliver into the realm of Arlo and the other cat introduced in an earlier book, Midnight, and the spy chickens that also live on the farm. The story is a perfect story to read to young children during the holidays, or even afterwards, if the opportunity arises. The author has once again woven a tale that is both enjoyable and captures the true essence of the holiday. This series about spycats at first seemed strange and even foolish to me, but, now that I have read the second installment, I think the author is onto something with this. I look forward to the next installment. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.
January 30, 2014
This is a story that is charming but one that probably needs to be read by a parent to a child so that the larger words and some of the ideas might be discussed during the reading. I wished for some illustrations because the story lends itself to being illustrated. I wasn’t sure who the target audience of the book was but did enjoy reading the book and would like to read more about the far and the cats and other animals.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews