Mammy Tittleback and Her Family: A True Story of Seventeen Cats

A striking tortoiseshell cat appears one morning at a modest Pennsylvania farm, winning the affection of two teenage brothers with generous bowls of milk. The children name her Mammy Tittleback, recalling a famous feline from the newspapers, and soon discover she’s already a mother to a litter of lively kittens. When their younger cousins, an eight‑year‑old boy and his six‑year‑old sister, arrive for the summer, the house is suddenly alive with the purrs and mews of seventeen cats.

The youngsters quickly adopt the role of caretakers, reading letters to the kittens and coaxing them out of tight spots, while Mammy Tittleback displays a sly intelligence—she moves the newborns from a barn hayloft to an unused wagon, then to a hidden hollow beneath fence rails, keeping them out of human hands. Their meddling provokes amusing clashes between the children’s affection and the cat’s desire for privacy, setting the stage for a season of tender mischief. Listeners will be drawn into the delightful rhythm of daily farm life, where each new birth brings fresh wonder and a lesson in simple, shared responsibility.