In this YouTube read‑aloud, narrator Lois Letchford introduces herself as the author of Reversed: A Memoir and The Literacy Problem Solver, and explains that she is reading the final chapter of Anne Fine’s The Diary of the Killer Cat series for children. She begins Chapter 1, titled “Horrible Horrible!,” in which the cat protagonist Tuffy recounts a disastrous Christmas that left him locked in a garage. Tuffy laments the holiday’s cat‑unfriendly elements – a tall tree, untouchable decorations, high‑up tinsel, wrapped presents, and cold snow – and describes the day as “terrible, frightful, awful, miserable.” The narration sets up the story’s conflict and invites listeners to hear the full tale of why Tuffy’s Christmas was so horrible.
Chapters
Hello, I am Lois Letchford, author of the book Reversed: A Memoir and The Literacy Problem Solver, reading the last in the series of The Diary of the Killer Cat by Anne Fine. I love this series of books, so I wanted to share with you and have children listen to it before they read it. Chapter 1: Horrible Horrible! Horrible! Okay, okay, so run off sobbing, but I did not kill that moth on purpose. It was not my fault. I do agree that I reached out to biff it once or twice, but it was annoying me, flapping round and round my face, and I'm not sure that it's Dead anyway. I mean, I saw it flapping off, looking a bit lopsided, but after that it disappeared. For all I know, the thing's still somewhere in the house, minding its own business and mucking about whatever it wants. Unlike me, locked in this garage in disgrace after a horrible Christmas. So go on, ask me. Dear, dear Tuffy, why was your Christmas so horrible? And I'll explain. Because it is a festival that just wasn't made for cats. Just think about it. There's a tree we're not allowed to climb, and there are tempting dangling decorations we're not allowed to touch, and there are glorious glittering strands of bright, bright tinsel hung far too high for us to reach. Shiny wrapped presents we have to keep our paws off. And if we're really unlucky, horrible cold white snow all over the garden. No, not my favourite time of year. So go on, ask the question. But Tuffy, what on earth happened? How come you've ended up locked in the Garage. I'll tell you. It was because this Christmas was even worse than usual. This Christmas was terrible, frightful, awful, miserable, all wrong, horrible, horrible, horrible. That's what it was. I'll tell you the whole Story.