A Gift from Bob: How a Street Cat Helped One Man Learn the Meaning of Christmas

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Synopsis

After finding some success with the publication of his books about his cat Bob, James Bowen reminisces about the last year he spent on the streets. Still struggling to get by, selling The Big Issue and busking, he hadn't even earned enough to keep food on the table or their small apartment heated, and it being one of the coldest, snowiest winters London had seen in some time wasn't helping. Still, James had no choice but to go out in the freezing weather in hopes of making enough money to pay his electric bill, and if he was lucky, buying a few small Christmas gifts for Bob and his best friend. Between bad memories of Christmases past and them not having much luck on their first day out in the snow, James's spirit is down. But eventually his partnership with Bob brings a whole new meaning and perspective to the holiday that he hadn't appreciated before.

Review

A Gift from Bob is the third and final book in James Bowen's Bob the Cat series, which tells the story of how the street cat he found and dubbed Bob changed his life. The prologue of this book begins at a Christmas party thrown by James's publisher, where he can scarcely believe that he's become a bestselling author. Prior to his good fortune, he'd had a rather fraught relationship with the Christmas holidays. He thinks back to a time a few years earlier, just a couple of years after meeting Bob. He was still struggling to make ends meet by busking and selling the homeless magazine, The Big Issue, on the street. Christmas is rapidly approaching and it's been one of the coldest, snowiest Decembers on record. After being stuck indoors for several days because of the bitter cold temperatures and snow, his electricity and gas are about to run out and he has no choice but to get back out there and make some cash. Of course, Bob accompanies him, but their first day back, things aren't going great. Collectors for charities, known as "chuggers," are aggressively encroaching on his space and sometimes getting money from passers-by before James even has a chance, and some people are just self-absorbed by holiday preparations, while others are outright Scrooges in spite of the season. Then a regular customer stops by with a card for James that includes some cash and a small gift for Bob. From there things generally start looking up for the pair as more and more people stop by either bringing them gifts because they know them or just showing generosity to a stranger. In large part, thanks to Bob, James soon has enough money to get through the holidays and their kindness inspires James to give back by buying several boxes of Christmas cards to show his appreciation for those who've graciously given to him throughout the year. From there, his holiday spirit grows more and more until he's able to cap off the season with a festive Christmas spent with Bob, and his best friend, Bella, joining them for Boxing Day. Through it all James is able to gain a new perspective on the holidays.

I absolutely loved the first two Bob the Cat books and found them to be inspiring and enjoyable, so it was a complete certainty that I would read A Gift from Bob. It turned out to be the perfect story for the holiday season. As always, I was impressed with how smart and intuitive Bob was (sadly he passed away in 2020 after tragically being hit by a car). Despite him being gone now, his spirit lives on through these books and the impact he had on many lives, especially James's. I like how this book follows James and Bob through one particularly rough Christmas together and how Bob helped James reconnect with the spirit of Christmas through his presence making James more visible to the people around them. In so doing, others were able to spread their good cheer, inspiring James to do the same. Christmas wasn't always a great time of year for James, but Bob helped to make the holiday so much better for him. I think James learned a lot from Bob, and his story can teach the same lessons about kindness and generosity to readers as well. I'm kind of sad that A Gift from Bob is the final book in the series, but all of them are on my keeper shelf to be reread in the coming years, and I look forward to checking out the Bob the Cat picture books and children's editions for my grandkids.

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James Bowen @ Wikipedia