Maniac's Cat

A tale of daring, drama, and dreams! The Bumper children must defeat a maniac doctor and his mismanaged cat before they can resume their normal lives. The children, stressed from a recent move and an unpleasant home situation, begin to have daydreams that become real. In the daydreams they discover moral truths about life and resolve their stress.

This very funny adventure story evolved out of a creative writing class in which six students contributed, critiqued, and consolidated ideas. Dr. Chiles melded those ideas into a time-travel scenario that subtly illustrates The Ten Commandments, without mentioning them.

An excerpt:
"The beautiful Princess Aardvarg came around the corner. When she saw the basket she jumped up and down and clapped her chubby hands together, exclaiming, 'Oh, a precious little abandoned baby, and it comes with a cat! I shall take him home and raise him as my own son so that he can one day be king, unless he wants to free his people from slavery and lead them through the wilderness or something. We can eat the cat for lunch.' Outer Transylvanians had unusual diets. Her maid picked the cat up by the scruff of the neck and the beautiful Princess Aaardvarg pulled the blanket back from Igor's head. He grinned up evilly. The beautiful Princess Aardvarg looked at her maid. They shrugged their shoulders. The beautiful Princess Aardvarg replaced the blanket. The maid dropped the cat back in the basket. As they went on their way the beautiful Princess Aardvarg said, 'Let's check the next block. The cats are usually fatter there anyway."

The story is intended for young readers, but adults who have read it have also been delighted..