THE CAT IN THE COCONUT HAT

In this debut picture book, a cat must find a new home when developers ruin his island.

A striped feline lives happily on a small island near the coast of Belize. Nightly visitors come to feast on the beach, and the cat gets to eat their yummy leftovers the next day. But one morning, a little dark-skinned girl arrives by boat and takes the scraps, leaving nothing for the feline. He goes hungry until that night’s feast. Worse, bulldozers land on shore and wreck the island to build a luxury resort. The cat demands that they stop, to no avail, but the girl rescues the feline, taking him to the mainland. Although he likes her family, the animal misses his coconut trees and strikes out to find a new home on the coast. In his book, Gillett sparks interest in the rich culture of Belize, including dialogue in Creole as well as English. Amadeo’s attractive, lively, stylized illustrations in saturated tropical colors are also a plus. These are appealing elements, but tragedy undercuts them since “all the cat had ever known and loved was being destroyed, and there was nothing he could do about it.”

A bright feline story that ultimately deals with heartbreaking loss.