Among all the other things always on my treasure hunting mission list are of course, the ubiquitous Ladybird books which must be considered as essentially British as a cream tea with scones (Scone rhyming with gone, or scone rhyming with bone m’dears? I am from Liverpool, so being common as muck, my scones are always gone).
Alongside my absolute favorite, Helping At Home, Tiptoes the Mischievous Kitten  is a little bit of domestic wonderful that I rather adore, especially now I have a naughty little black kitten of my own!
While the story is delightful, it is the images that truly make me smile…
Here dear old Mr Moffat arrives home with a kitten for the baby…
And little Tiptoes says thank-you for the chance to live with such a charming family by walking in wet paint and then stamping her little green paws over the baby asleep in his “perambulator” …
“As she grew older, instead of getting any better, she really grew naughtier and naughtier…”
Naughty little Tiptoes, just like my Alice, runs around the house causing absolute havoc: falling into a bowl of starch and requiring a bath, getting tangled up in a basket of embroidery silks and tipping over a floral arrangement, so that Mrs Moffat has to flap her duster at her in absolute despair!
But it is on the day that Mrs Moffat decides to fashion a few cushions from an old eiderdown while wearing an absolutely darling yellow turban, that dear little Tiptoes nearly blows it altogether…
For their can’t be a kitten in the land who could resist feathering up a storm now can there? Dear Alice got herself into deliriously joyful trouble with a pile of printing paper…
But Mr and Mrs Moffatt can take it no more and overhearing Mr Moffatt tell Mrs Moffatt that she has enough to worry about with a house and a baby, Tiptoes runs away to think about what she had done and let the aftermath die down…
Soon the Moffatts are hunting high and low for Tiptoes, who is lying low in shame and wishing with all her heart that they will start to miss her, for now more than ever, she needs them…
For Tiptoes has a secret, in fact dear little tiptoes has got three! And before they know it, the Moffatt’s troubles have more than doubled and there is no hope at all for a peaceful house but no doubt, plenty of room for joy…
P.S: Doesn’t  Mrs Moffatt have a wonderful line in polka dot clothes? a woman after our own hearts methinks…Â
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12 Comments
What a precious kitty! I do love Mrs. Moffat’s polka dot clothes. 🙂
Love those illustrations. I’ll never know how women back then could do all that cleaning in dresses and stockings. Reminds me of my grandmothers who wore dresses every day of their lives with their girdles/garters and nylon stockings. I can’t imagine cleaning house like that!
Love those illustrations. I’ll never know how women back then could do all that cleaning in dresses and stockings. Reminds me of my grandmothers who wore dresses every day of their lives with their girdles/garters and nylon stockings. I can’t imagine cleaning house like that!
My goodness! As soon as I saw the second illustration I was about two or three years old, I don’t remember the actually story or the rest of the illustrations but I KNOW that illustration. I guess I haven’t seen it for — gulp! — over fifty years. It’s not a book I read to myself or I would remember the story, so that means pre-four.
My goodness! As soon as I saw the second illustration I was about two or three years old, I don’t remember the actually story or the rest of the illustrations but I KNOW that illustration. I guess I haven’t seen it for — gulp! — over fifty years. It’s not a book I read to myself or I would remember the story, so that means pre-four.
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What a precious kitty! I do love Mrs. Moffat’s polka dot clothes. 🙂
What a precious kitty! I do love Mrs. Moffat’s polka dot clothes. 🙂
Love those illustrations. I’ll never know how women back then could do all that cleaning in dresses and stockings. Reminds me of my grandmothers who wore dresses every day of their lives with their girdles/garters and nylon stockings. I can’t imagine cleaning house like that!
Love those illustrations. I’ll never know how women back then could do all that cleaning in dresses and stockings. Reminds me of my grandmothers who wore dresses every day of their lives with their girdles/garters and nylon stockings. I can’t imagine cleaning house like that!
One of our favourites too. Do you have Gingers Adventures as well? An equally darling scamp.
One of our favourites too. Do you have Gingers Adventures as well? An equally darling scamp.
My goodness! As soon as I saw the second illustration I was about two or three years old, I don’t remember the actually story or the rest of the illustrations but I KNOW that illustration. I guess I haven’t seen it for — gulp! — over fifty years. It’s not a book I read to myself or I would remember the story, so that means pre-four.
My goodness! As soon as I saw the second illustration I was about two or three years old, I don’t remember the actually story or the rest of the illustrations but I KNOW that illustration. I guess I haven’t seen it for — gulp! — over fifty years. It’s not a book I read to myself or I would remember the story, so that means pre-four.
So sweet! Loved the post and illustrations!
So sweet! Loved the post and illustrations!
A complete nostalgia trip I am with you Rose !
A complete nostalgia trip I am with you Rose !