METRO CAT

A speeding limousine spills a pampered society cat out on to the streets of Paris to fend for herself. Sophie LeBeque has only known a life of luxury as the cover cat for Fancy Cat magazine. Her days are filled with fresh trout breakfasts, naps in her sunroom, and forays into her private catnip garden. All this changes when she takes a spill from her carrier on the way to a photo shoot and finds herself lost among the bustling rush-hour crowds in a busy Metro station. She quickly learns to find food, shelter, and safety even without the help of her butler and editors. Sophie eventually leaves the Metro and ends up among a group of street performers. One particular fiddler catches her ear and she begins to dance to his tune. Sophie leads the fiddler down into the Metro where they find fortune, friendship, and a new home together. While this is not a particularly innovative story and it errs on the side of wordiness, what it lacks in substance, it makes up for in lively cartoon drawings of the cat’s-eye view of Paris and its denizens, particularly their footwear. Mais oui. (Picture book. 4-7)