CCBC Booklists

CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

To print a CCBC booklist, click on a list below and then use your browser’s “Print” command.

< Back to booklist

Da Vinci's Cat

by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

CCBC Review:

To ensure his father’s loyalty to the Pope, 11-year-old Federico is allowed to freely roam the papal palace in Rome while serving as a privileged hostage. The year is 1511, and Michelangelo is painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, while the rival artist Raphael schemes to gain access through Federico to that off-limits work in progress. Lonely Federico is quick to befriend a cat he spots exiting an odd cabinet. Events take a time-warping turn when the cat is followed by Herbert Bother, an artist and dealer from 1920s New Jersey who is hoping to get Raphael to sign a sketch to increase its value. The odd cabinet, a gift to the Pope from France, was built by Leonardo Da Vinci. No one but Herbert, and now Federico, knows it’s a time machine. Juno, Da Vinci’s time-traveling cat, brings Bee, a 21st-century Italian American girl and the daughter of art historian mothers, into the story. Cleverly constructed connections across time link Federico and Bee, who must work together to resolve altered events in the 16th century that would otherwise irrevocably impact history. ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-12
Age Range: Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format: Novel
Subjects: 16th Century Animals (Fiction) Art and Artists Fantasy Historical Fiction Italians and Italian Americans Time Travel
Diversity subject: LGBTQ Character/Topic
On CCBC Booklists: Fantasy for 8 to 12 Year Olds: Giants, Journeys, and Other Imaginings Speculative and Science Fiction for Children and Teens

Publishers: Greenwillow, HarperCollins
Publish Year: 2021
Pages: 278
ISBN: 9780063015258
CCBC Location: Fiction, Murdock

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.

Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.