A CAT IS BETTER

A clear manifesto from a finicky feline to a new owner.

There’s no mistaking who’s the boss in this arrangement. “Congratulations. I’m your new cat….You may take me home now,” the story begins. When the friendly little light-skinned boy (who resembles a Playskool kid) also adopts an eager blue dog, the cute orange kitten knows that this is a big mistake and firmly makes the case for feline superiority. A cat is more elegant and graceful, not to mention smarter. Maybe a dog would play fetch, but a cat knows how to entertain itself—by clawing the furniture! A dog yips and yaps and whines while a cat is musical; just listen to that purr. A cat won’t chew up your toys and takes care to clean itself, while a dog gets messy and dirty and needs splashy baths. But on the other hand, the cat muses, maybe a dog is not too bad if he knows his place. And sometimes, truth to tell, a cat can get lonely and just might snuggle with a dog. The orange kitten hops into bed right next to the blue dog. “Purrfect.” Singleton’s minimal text, narrated entirely by the cat, is well-matched by Martin’s bright illustrations, whose simple yet evocative shapes might have been drawn by a child, although their juxtaposition with the wry text yields lots of funny subtext.

Catnip for cat owners.