FRANKIE WORKS THE NIGHT SHIFT

“Frankie works the night shift. / He empties one wastebasket. / He cleans two counters.” Yes, Frankie the yellow tabby cat works and counts his way around the hardware store until he “spots an intruder behind six hammers! / He follows it up / and down / seven ladders. / He chases it in and out of eight nail bins.” The chase lands the both of them on the beds of the nine bosses, who aren’t too keen on being awakened—until one of them spots the intruding mouse. Then Frankie has a cheering section as he chases it from the store. After a good night’s work (and ten big yawns), Frankie settles down to his daytime routine—which looks to include a bit of napping. Peters’s sly counting-cat tale is given a huge boost of silliness and adrenalin by newcomer Taylor’s photo-based digital collages. The puss playing Frankie and his mousey co-star leap and climb across the full-bleed, mostly two-page dynamically composed spreads with gleeful abandon. Enormously entertaining, particularly for the I Spy set. (Picture book. 3-7)