Good little book from one of my favorite childhood authors. I never read this one as a kid, but my dad lost my old books so I recently bought a Marguerite Henry box set that includes this book.

Benjamin West is a 7- to 8-year-old Quaker boy a day's ride outside of Philadelphia. He and his large family run Door Latch Inn. Quakers don't have decor because life must be strictly practical. However, he dreams of painting. He adopts a black cat from a German boy that tried to rescue it, and named it Grimalkin. Grimalkin accompanies Benjamin from his first attempt at drawing, learning to use pigments from the Native Americans, meet important people in Philadelphia, and ultimately winning him a future outside conventional Quaker rules. That is history, and Henry weaves it into a comfy fictional narrative.

My main complaint is the pacing. We know what becomes of Benjamin in his adulthood, and this book focuses on his start. However, since it focuses on that first year or so, I kept feeling like I was still reading the first few chapters of a book--it didn't feel progressive. I'm not sure how Henry's writing had this effect on me, or if it was entirely just my mood.

Ultimately I put this story in the "sweet and simple" category. There's nothing truly wrong with it to me, but it also wasn't anything incredible. Just a gentle good. ( )

Benjamin West was born with an extraordinary gift—the gift of creating paintings of people, animals, and landscapes so true to life they “took one’s breath away.” But Benjamin is part of a deeply religious Quaker family, and Quaker beliefs forbid the creation of images. Because Benjamin’s family didn’t approve of his art, he had to make his own painting supplies. The local Native Americans taught him how to mix paints from earth, clay, and plants. And his cat, Grimalkin, sacrificed hair from his tail for Ben’s brushes.

Benjamin West was born with an extraordinary gift—the gift of creating paintings of people, animals, and landscapes so true to life they “took one’s breath away.” But Benjamin is part of a deeply religious Quaker family, and Quaker beliefs forbid the creation of images.
Because Benjamin’s family didn’t approve of his art, he had to make his own painting supplies. The local Native Americans taught him how to mix paints from earth, clay, and plants. And his cat, Grimalkin, sacrificed hair from his tail for Ben’s brushes.

With his beloved black cat Grimalkin as his constant companion, the young Quaker boy Benjamin West discovers and develops his talent as an artist. Orignial ed.1947. Includes an essay titled "What happened then?"