Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been?

Story

A cat heads to London to visit the queen.

Why we chose it

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat is a popular nursery rhyme which appears in many anthologies. Children enjoy the idea of the mouse hiding under the throne!

It was one of the rhymes featured in the Nursery Rhyme room, which was part of our Time for Bed exhibition

Where it came from

The rhyme possibly dates back to 16^th century England. The story goes that a member of Queen Elizabeth I’s court had a cat which tended to roam the palace. The Queen allowed this as the cat kept the mice away. Some sources suggest the queen referred to is Caroline of Brunswick (wife of George IV).

The rhyme was first published in 1805 in a collection, Songs for the Nurseries. The melody was first collected in the National Nursey Rhymes and Nursery Songs by James William Elliott in 1870.

Where it went next

Pussycat, pussycat where have you been? by Dan Bar-El and Rae Mate is a picture book which reveals the rest of Pussycat’s adventures all around the world

Usborne Picture Books have a series of Pussy Cat Where Have You Been books in which the reader is introduced to the sights of London, New York or Rome.

Associated Stories

Cats are extremely popular in rhymes and stories for the very young. Other nursery rhyme cats include the Three Little Kittens who lost their mittens and the cat who ran away with the spoon in Hey Diddle Diddle.

Story cats include Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Tom Kitten, Inga Moore’s Six Dinner Sid, Lynley Dodds Slinky Malinki and Scarface Claw, Judith Kerr’s Mog, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Tabby McTat and Sam Lloyd’s Mr Pusskins.

Other stories celebrate cat’s behaviour like Eve Sutton and Lynley Dodd’s My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes and Vivane Schwarz’s There are Cats in this Book or children’s relationships with cats like Emily Gravett’s Matilda’s Cat.