Street Cat Named Bob (Bowen)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for A Street Cat Names Bob:

1. Talk about the strange connection that exists between humans and animals. What makes us bond with one another? James was barely able to care for himself, as he admits, so what prompted him to undertake the care and added expense of a sick animal?

2. Bowen says that Bob attracted people and motivated them to offer money, far more generously than when he was playing on his own. What is it about animals—but not people—that brings out people's kindness charity? is there something strange about that? Isn't that backwards?

3. On the publisher's book trailer one man says that James and Bob's story changed his perception of homeless people. He came to see them differently than he had in the past. How do you react to the homeless? Do you ever stop to talk, learn their story, offer money, a word of encouragement, a cup of coffee? Has this book made you see homeless people differently?

4. Bowen's story, of an animal that changes one's life, is exceptional but not unique. What is it about animals that can heal the human soul?

5. Talk about the trajectory of young James's life. How did he end up on the streets of London? What part did his mental health and/or his family history play? How responsible is/was James for his troubled life? To what degree are any of us responsible for the path our lives take?

6. Talk about your own relationships with your pets. Perhaps not as dramatically as Bob has done for James Bowen, but have animals in any way shaped your life?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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