Life with Antonino
Maltese Heritage Fun
2
Activity Story Book -
Life with Antonino
A privileged cat named Antonino who roams freely in the Inquisitor’s Palace. He gives an eye-witness account of the hustle and bustle of the daily life, banquets, tribunal and prison, from a cat’s perspective!
Antonino Inquisitor’s cat
Meet the Characters
Your Excellency the Inquisitor
Francesco kitten Contessa female cat
Cara Sorella Inquisitor’s sister
Augusto chef
Giacomo Inquisitor’s attendant
Family Cara Sorella’s husband and three children
Some call me ‘King of the Castle’, others just call me ‘cat’, but my name is Antonino or as to some, Nino for short. I like living in this palace. I have a big bed, a garden, good food and a lot of friends. This is my life at the palace…
As I cross the street, I hear footsteps and someone say, “Stop, is that a rat?!” “No, Your Excellency, it is a little kitten,” says a man who gently picks me up. “Let me see, Giacomo, bring it here,” says Your Excellency.
Your Excellency covers me in his warm clothes. “Let us go home, little one,” he says softly. The men pick up the sedan chair and take us to the palace. Your Excellency puts me on a soft cushion in front of a warm fire. “Giacomo, bring Antonino some food and milk.”
“Meow” I say thankfully.
I quickly find that life at the palace is grand.
At first, I stay in the room with the big fire. It is so warm and comfortable here. Your Excellency, as everyone calls him, sleeps with me at night. During the day, he comes to see me. Everyone likes me here!
“He’s lovely! What is his name?” the girl asks.
“Antonino, but I call him Nino, like my nephew,” says Giacomo smiling.
One day, Your Excellency rushes out of the room leaving the door open. Curious to see what is outside, I follow him. Your Excellency walks into another room and closes the door. I try to look for a way in, but I soon become lost.
I have no idea how to get back to my room, so I go down a grand staircase. Suddenly a shadow from behind me says, “Nino, what are you doing down here?!”
Join the dots to find out who it is.
I was so glad to see my friend, Giacomo. He picks me up and takes me around the palace to meet everyone. A woman mending clothes says, “Give him to me, Giacomo.”
He puts me on her lap and she dresses me up with a lace collar. Everyone seems to like it, but it makes me itch!
Help Antonino find the way back to his room.
Now, I know every room there is in the palace. Let me show you around.
This room, they call the Tribunal Hall. I do not stay here long. Your Excellency is always in a serious mood here, so I stay out of the way. Even the people who come here, they are usually sad, some are angry and shout, and others leave crying.
After the Tribunal Hall, people are sometimes brought here. This is called the prison. People here are usually noisy. The prison warden always sends me away when he sees me.
But I have a friend I like to visit. His name is Pepe and he always whistles when he sees me. Pepe tells me “Greetings Nino!” and I reply, “Meow”. I stay near him for a while as it always makes him happy.
There are 8 dice in this picture, can you find them?
Now we go to the best room in the palace… the kitchen!
Augusto, the chef, is one of my dearest friends. Everyone loves Gusto, as he is called. “Ah, Nino, just who I wanted to see! We have important guests coming, so you need to keep your eyes open, right?!” Gusto says with a wink.
I know what that means. If I find him a mouse, he will give me a treat! Meow!
Colour the shapes with a dot to find out Antonino’s favourite treat.
When guests arrive at the palace, they go upstairs to meet Your Excellency. Here the rooms are nicer. Let us go up to see who Your Excellency is greeting today.
“Ah Cara Sorella, how lovely to see you all!”
Cara Sorella lives very far away, so they are very happy to see each other. “We are so glad to finally see you, dear brother,” she says. Cara is the only person who does not call him Your Excellency … and her children, they just love me!
Draw the other half of the design and then colour it.
You will see this design on the ceiling of the Grand Staircase at the Inquisitor’s Palace.
Cara and the children spend some time in my garden. To my surprise, there is someone else sitting on the bench next to her, so I walk closer.
Cara introduces me to Contessa, her cat!
Write the first letter of each picture in the box below it and find the hidden word.
What I like most when we have visitors is that Your Excellency holds a banquet! There is always a lot of good food. The hall is decorated and sometimes, there is music as well.
Match the instrument to its shadow...
...now look at the names of the instruments and match their numbers with the drawings.
1.Trumpet 2.Guitar 3.Violin 4.Drums
5.Harp
6.Flute
7.Horn
Write down the names of the two instruments played at the banquet.
1.___________________
2.___________________
At the end, it is sad to see sweet Cara and her children leave. Your Excellency will surely miss them all, and I … especially Contessa! It will be quiet without them all, until some new guests come along.
Next day, Your Excellency spends his day writing letters. I like to spend quiet time together. But Giacomo has a surprise for us. He brings in a basket, puts it on the floor and out jumps a little kitten! Your Excellency calls him Francesco, others call him Cesco. And so Cesco and I are now very good friends, especially when we have to keep an eye on the mice in the palace!
Find the 6 mice hiding in this picture.
Who uses what in the story? Match the items with their owner.
INQUISITOR
WOODEN SPOON
GIRL BOOK
Antonino’s Word Search S Z G I R L J H O S B G H V T D S E D A N C H A I R H S R Y F A R R O R I M Y W J E A N T O N I N O N S B G C W W T C R R C J S Q L N B J S X G B J I H Z D U L N O A K Q N S B Q E C N I P T O P I P B O Y S F G X S O N K L T F A J U T N C P I O Y O L T F R K R C D G D T B Y I J L W O O D E N S P O O N L W E P O W V E K C P R N L M A S U P P H I I H C U S H I O N A L U C H H Q E Y M K K K G
SEDAN CHAIR CHEF
ANTONINO CUSHION BOYS SKITTLES
Life with Antonino
This story is inspired by the Inquisitor’s Palace. The fictitious character of Antonino helps bring the past of this magnificent palace alive. The illustrations use the Inquisitor’s Palace in its current setting, as a backdrop for the story. Some rooms, currently exhibiting ethnographic displays, have period furniture and accessories added for the benefit of the narrative.
This is the second title in a series of fun activity story books on Maltese Heritage.
Publication Details
Textual & Visual Narrative: Margaret Abdilla Cunningham
Illustrations: Kimberly Azzopardi
Series Editor: Godwin Vella
Setting: Pierre Balzia
Technical Support: George Agius, Kenneth Cassar and Fiona Vella
Printing: Poultons Ltd
ISBN: 978-99932-57-83-7
Acknowledgements: Heritage Malta’s Board of Directors, CEO, COO, and staff members in the Conservation, Curatorial, ICT & Corporate Services, and Projects Divisions.
Produced by © 2021 Heritage Malta Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Life with... Maltese Heritage Fun Activity Story Book Series
A privileged cat who gives an eye-witness account of the hustle and bustle of the daily life in the Inquisitor’s Palace.
including 24 stickers & cut-out craft
