Help me identify this book from my childhood

[Dilettante]

It was a beautifully illustrated picture book with a Japanese feel to the pictures, lots of soft grey/black/brown brushstrokes etc, can't remember the story but it had a page where a cat looked into the sea and there was a herring or fish underwater and a reflection of the moon ( I think). it may have been an American book as it belonged to an American friend of my mother who used to read it to me when we visited her.

Not much to go on, but maybe someone will remember it?

Is it possibly www.amazon.co.uk/Mousehole-Cat-VHS-Sian-Phillips/dp/B00004CPCJ there used to be a version with very japanese style pictures available.

No I don't think so, it seemed like it was possibly originally from the 60's...same era as Where the Wild Things Are and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Thanks for trying though - and The Mousehole Cat looks really good, think my DS would like that!

The mousehole cat is a brilliant book, brings a lump to my throat everytime we read it.

Try the BookSleuth forum at www.abebooks.com (don't bother with the .co.uk site as most of the UK people hang out on the main .com forum anyway).

could it be one of joan aitken's collections of stories illustrated by Jan Pienkowski?

kingdom under the sea or necklace of raindrops?

jog any memories?

Thanks for suggestions popsycal, but it's not that, the illustrations were more watercolour, muted and dreamy than Jan Pienkowski.

Will try BookSleuth I think!

I have a hardback book called 'The Little Crayfish' (1974 Bodley Head) by Ursula and Celestino Piatti.
It is a beautiful book, and the illustrations do sound like those you describe....soft watercolour brushstrokes, in muted colours, with details drawn in black ink. The illustration you describe is not in this book, but it may be worth searching on Abebooks to see if any other titles by the same authors ring bells?
'Celestino Piatti's Animal ABC' published by Atheneum, New York 1966 might be a possibility?

I have a hardback book called 'The Little Crayfish' (1974 Bodley Head) by Ursula and Celestino Piatti.
It is a beautiful book, and the illustrations do sound like those you describe....soft watercolour brushstrokes, in muted colours, with details drawn in black ink. The illustration you describe is not in this book, but it may be worth searching on Abebooks to see if any other titles by the same authors ring bells?
'Celestino Piatti's Animal ABC' published by Atheneum, New York 1966 might be a possibility?

I have a hardback book called 'The Little Crayfish' (1974 Bodley Head) by Ursula and Celestino Piatti.
It is a beautiful book, and the illustrations do sound like those you describe....soft watercolour brushstrokes, in muted colours, with details drawn in black ink. The illustration you describe is not in this book, but it may be worth searching on Abebooks to see if any other titles by the same authors ring bells?
'Celestino Piatti's Animal ABC' published by Atheneum, New York 1966 might be a possibility?

Ooh provinciallady, that seems to ring a bell - the names of the authors sound awfully familiar...

Thanks!

I do hope you find your book! Just to say...I looked at my book again, and there is a picture of a raccoon by a stream, with a fish in the water, and the crayfish at the edge, but in the story it is midday and there is no reflection of the moon. There is another illustration of a river, with bulrushes delicately drawn in black ink - this picture definitely has a Japanese feel to it. The little raccoon might look like a cat to a child....just a thought.
Peakirk Books have a copy on Abebooks - they are really helpful, and should be happy to send a scanned image - they once sent me a long synopsis of a book which confirmed that a book they had in stock was one of DH's childhood favourites!