Summer in St. Ives is a good time for the stray cat. Visitors give him titbits to eat, and it is warm on his hill.

Then, in autumn the tourists start to leave, and food is more difficult to come by.

But winter is worse: it is a cold, lonely time - full of danger and constant hunger.

Appetizing smells from the village drift up the hill, enticing him to risk the notice of the fierce village cats. And come Christmas, who will remember the cat on the hill?

Fans of Saving Sinbad, also set in St. Ives, will recognise some of the characters in this moving and beautifully illustrated tale.

It will surely join Michael Foreman's Cat in the Manger as a family favourite throughout the year - and especially, perhaps, at Christmas