SEÑOR DON GATO
A Traditional Song
adapted by John Manders & illustrated by John Manders
Love can hurt real bad. So learns the title character when, overjoyed by the passionate love letter he reads from a black-mantilla-clad lady cat, he falls to his death from high atop a roof. “Ayyy Caramba!!!” indeed. Love doesn’t resurrect, however, at least not in Señor Don’s case. No, the smell of fish from an open-air market passed by the funeral cortege does that, and at the end, the happy couple gaze lovingly at a full moon. Manders’s witty, energetic gouache paintings are filled with amusing Spanish-themed details (the song’s text was originally a Mexican rhyme), and the narrative carries the intermittent refrain of “Meow-Meow-Meow,” that will likely encourage young mewers to join in. Song notes are included. (Picture book. 3-7)