My Cat Isis

K-Gr 2—Isis was one of 1500 gods and goddesses worshipped by ancient Egyptians. In this book, she is also the one and only cat of the child narrator. He shares a number of factoids about the Egyptian goddess, followed by observations about his pet on alternate pages. For example, the goddess wore a horned headdress to show that cattle were important in Egyptian life; Isis the cat wears a harness and leash on walks because squirrels are important in nature (one gets the impression from the cat's intent gaze that she would gladly reduce the squirrel population if let loose). "Isis was the daughter of Earth and Sky. I got my Isis when our neighbor's cat had kittens." The format of parallel narratives is fairly abstract, and children would benefit from an upfront explanation of the premise. The pages about the goddess are illustrated in the style of ancient Egyptian art, while those about the cat are done in collage. Many of the collage pieces are photographs of cats' body parts, pieced together with textured paper to create whole animals. The end result can be disconcerting, like an Igor made from mismatched body parts. The book works as an introduction to characters in Egyptian mythology, but it is not an essential purchase.—Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR