Cat & Dog

PreS-Gr 2—Cat and Dog are seasoned denizens of the city streets, responsible for their own care and well-being. Humorous scenes and a simple story tell how the two become companions and discover a different world outside the city. Although the animals talk and sometimes gesture in a human manner, their lives seem quite real. Cat has three kittens in tow, bedding them down under a graffiti-marked bridge on a rainy night. Morning brings disaster when she scrambles up to the street, following the tantalizing odor of fish. She bounds through the open door of a van, only to have the door slam shut behind her. And, of course, the van zooms away. At the end of a long day of waiting and watching for their mother's return, "a scruffy old dog wandered under the bridge, looking for somewhere dry to sleep." Foreman's comic sketches of the animals give them expressive lean faces and similar gray and white markings. The watercolor backgrounds, the predominant tan and blue tones echoing in the animals' coats, shine pink and gold in the morning and at sunset. The fish man provides the unexpected visitor in his van a pleasant overnight stay at the seaside, returning her to her offspring the following day. Cat is at first alarmed at the dog's presence, but as the kittens reassure her, she gives them all an enthusiastic account of the wonderful place she has visited, "and when the driver came back to his van he found he had a few extra passengers." So begins a concluding scenario sure to satisfy a wide range of readers. "'There's a whole wonderful world out there,' said Dog. 'Yes, and a sea full of fish,' said Cat."—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston