THE ALLEY CAT’S MEOW
by Kathi Appelt & illustrated by Jon Goodell
Earning stratospheric style points, Goodell (Andiamo, Weasel!, p. 1130, etc.) portrays a pair of high-stepping feline dancers who’d drive Astaire and Rogers to the sidelines. It’s love at first twirl when tiger-striped Red meets elegant Ginger at the titular “boogie-woogie juke joint.” “They jitterbugged and cut a rug. / They did the waltz and samba. / Their cat-trot was exceptional, / Magnificent! ¡Caramba!” On they sweep, to wow audiences from Broadway to Vegas, on the silver screen, in Paris, Brazil, and Havana. In each setting, not only are they posed with joyful expressions and irresistible exuberance in mid-fling, but their clothes are magnficent: elegant tuxes or deceptively casual dress for him, splendid ruffles, liquescent silks, and luxurious furs for her. Paired to a toe-tapping rhyme from Appelt (Poems from Home Room, p.1214, etc.), this happily-ever-after terpsichorean triumph will leave readers of any age breathless. (Picture book. 7-9)