Three Stories You Can Read Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat, (Paperback)

Publishers Weekly,Miller and Kelley follow up their clever Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog with a blithe feline equivalent. Each of three stories includes animated descriptions of prowling and yowling, told in the second person as though a housecat were both main character and willing audience. "The Rainy Day" portrays a restless protagonist on a wet morning: "You went to sit under the dining room table. `Maybe some food will fall,' you said to yourself. `Sometimes food does that.' " The next entry, "The Yummy Bug," details the suspenseful pursuit of a spotted beetle. And the ironic "The Good Day" finds the hero trying to "be good" by gnawing a houseplant ("`Mmmmm,' you said to yourself. `That was very, very good' ") and excavating the kitchen trash (" `This is better than good,' you said. `This is GREAT!' "). Miller employs snappy sentences, a keen eye for kitty foibles and a quirky wit. Kelley's uncomplicated pen-and-ink and watercolor images show an attention to familiar cat poses; a pampered and plump gray cat crouches, bathes itself, climbs curtains and sharpens its claws. Even if cats don't deign to sit through a reading, this chapter book (like its canine companion volume) provides plenty of amusement for humans. Ages 7-10. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved