Nicholas the Cat Lends a Paw: Nicholas the Cat, #2

By Roberta Belanger

A moving book about pets, friends and their adventures together.

Nicholas the cat works on the big fishing dock chasing mice and seagulls away from the boats.  Seagulls are beautiful birds, but Pesky!  Mice bite holes in the fish nets and it is Nicholas's job to put a stop to that.  It makes for a busy day on the big fishing dock.

Nicholas lives in the nearby park and meets Hannah and her family--a baker and a cowboy.  There's a surprise for Hannah at her first horse riding lesson as she learns about rescuing horses.  Off Nicholas goes to school one day and is the star of "Show and Tell."  His friend Alex the cat travels the world and runs into an elephant!

Great gift for early readers, Nicholas's stories will keep them curious as they enjoy his adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roberta Belanger
• Release date: Mar 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734690934

Roberta Belanger

Roberta Belanger grew up and lives in a historic old fishing village in New England.  It takes her five minutes to walk from her home to the big fishing dock where her father had been a commercial fisherman.  The famous fish market had been built and run by her Grandfather.  It still operates on a small dock next door.  Her Uncle had been a lobsterman  All in the family!  The big fishing dock is reserved for commercial fishing boats only so the fishing industry carries on.  She swam in the Bay every day as a child with her brother and two sisters.  The historic village has may vintage houses from the 18th and 19th centuries  Come and visit.  You just might meet Roberta "sitting by the dock on the bay."

Book preview

A cat in the snow Description automatically generated with medium confidence

NICHOLAS THE CAT

Text Copyright ©2021 Roberta Belanger

Cover Illustration Copyright ©2021 Jeffrey O. McFarland

Nicholasthecat.com

[e-mail]

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written  permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews.

978-1-7346909-3-4

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all pets—

especially one beautiful cat named Nicholas and the Gentleman who gave him to me one Christmas.

Cherish your pets forever.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Forward

Acknowledgment

Nicholas Goes to School

Adoption

The Contest

Nicholas Meets Hannah

Hannah’s Family

The Horse Center

Hannah’s Dad Gets a Job

Working Men of the Sea 

Alex the Cat

About the Author

Illustrators

FOREWORD

A moving book about pets, friends, and their adventures together.

Nicholas the cat works on the big fishing dock chasing mice and seagulls away from the boats.  Seagulls are beautiful birds but Pesky!  Mice bite holes in the fish nets and it is Nicholas’s job to put a stop to that.  It makes for a busy day on the big fishing dock.

Nicholas lives in the nearby park and meets Hannah and her family – a baker and a cowboy.  There’s a surprise for Hannah on her first horse-riding lesson as she learns about rescuing and training horses.  Off Nicholas goes to school and is the star of Show and Tell.  His friend Alex the cat visits Nicholas every summer and tells of his travels around the world where he ran into an elephant!

Great gift for early readers, Nicholas’s stories will keep them curious as they enjoy his adventures.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I had wonderful assistance from my editors in this second book of the series.  First was Linda Lundblad, my sister.  She is as knowledgeable as I am when it comes to the big fishing dock, so her advice was extremely helpful in the details of the events.  Barbara Findley edited the structure and content of the stories in minute detail.  Both were fabulous! 

I also have a favorite son-in-law who is astute in examining ideas.  Very much appreciated.  Susan Yacovino, a retired Reading Consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education, was a joy to work with.  Her expertise and advice was spot on! She is an invaluable editor and friend.

I also want to thank James R. Bennett (great-grandson) who read and edited the book from his vantage point as a young reader. 

My husband was a patient helper as I would question him about all kinds of things, interrupting him without thought.  My new cat, Phantom, helped as he sat on my computer and, therefore, told me it was time for a break.

NICHOLAS GOES TO SCHOOL

The Captain’s oldest son was 8 years old.  His name was Stephen.  Stephen was working on a science project in school to learn about pets—what they ate, how they lived, how they played—everything.  He had to prepare a show and tell report about a pet.  The problem was, Stephen didn’t have a pet.  There were no pets in the Captain’s house.  Why?  Because several of Stephen’s brothers and sisters had allergies to pet fur.  Pet fur made them itchy and made their noses run.  They sneezed a lot.  Not fun.

The Captain wanted to help his son, and he suddenly thought of Nicholas the cat.  Nicholas lived in a little park next to the big fishing dock.  He actually had a job and that job was to keep the mice from chewing holes in the fish nets that sat on the dock.  He also had to keep the seagulls from sitting on the fishing boats.  The gulls liked to catch a fish or crab and land on the fishing boats to eat their lunch.  What a mess!  No seagulls on the boats.  Not allowed!  Not allowed!  That was Nicholas’s job.

Could Nicholas the cat help Stephen?  Both he and his Dad, the Captain, thought that bringing Nicholas to school for show and tell was a great idea. 

Stephen was very smart.  He began reading and studying all about cats.  He also went to visit a veterinarian who specialized in the care of cats.  The doctor had treated many cats and knew all about them inside and out!  He knew what was good for them and what was bad.

"When you decide you