NOBODY’S NOSIER THAN A CAT

“Nobody’s nosier than a cat— / a moon-eyed cat, / a night-watch cat.” These opening lines set the pattern for the ensuing fanciful, if overlong and sometimes strained, celebration of cat qualities. Giacobbe’s computer-generated illustrations picture a sharp-edged world full of all sorts of sleek, pointy-eared cats leaping, stalking, grooming, and snoozing in stylized tableaux. One black cat slinks his way throughout, chasing a mouse that is always just beyond his reach until the very last page, where both he and the mouse find themselves at last united with their owner. From nosier and dozier, Bartoletti works through other rhyming pairs, some felicitous (naughtier and haughtier), some less so (trickier and lickier), and one just painful (hoaxier and coaxier). A little pruning would have resulted in a tighter, better package all-around. (Picture book. 4-7)