BARN CAT

This appealing look at garden, meadow, and farmyard creatures, as seen through the eyes of a curious barn cat, gives the tried-and-true preschool favorites—animals and counting—a fresh new landscape. “Barn cat at the red barn door/Barn cat, what are you looking for?” The cat spies one grasshopper, two crickets, three butterflies, and so on, up to ten sparrows at the feeder. The lazy barn cat appears to be unmoved, even by seven tempting birds in a nest and nine chicks in a line. The repetition builds tension; just as readers are convinced that barn cat is finally ready to pounce, she finds what she’s been searching for—a bowl of milk being poured at the kitchen door. Azarian’s friendly woodcuts, hand-colored in country-fresh hues, give a novel meaning to summer on the farm. (Picture book. 3-7)