CAT

Dumbleton’s extremely spare text follows the series of near misses Cat is involved in throughout the day and night. Cat tries unsuccessfully to catch both a mouse and a bird. He is also chased by a dog, soaked by a sprinkler and nearly hit by a child on a bicycle. All ends well, as he finally completes his rough day by settling down on his favorite rug by a roaring fire. An appealing feature of this book is that early readers can easily read the text: “Dog. / Dog. Cat. / Tall tree. Thank goodness for that.” The illustrations in gouache and pen-and-ink depict the humans realistically, but the animals are somewhat unpleasantly exaggerated. Cartoonish and slightly scary, they’re clearly meant to stand apart from the humans. While Cat certainly does behave like a real cat, there is something about the illustrations that makes Cat a rather unlikable figure. Not for all tastes. (Picture book. 2-6)