Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That

PreS-K—Nat, an orange tabby cat, spends his day sleeping in spite of the bustle going on around him. In fact, he can sleep anywhere-in drawers, on the stairs, even in a "cooking pot" or "flopping halfway off a shelf." But "when the nighttime quiet falls,/when strange shadows fill the halls,/" Nat comes to life, joined by a black-and-white kitten. They careen around on toys, jump on beds, and enjoy the night sky perched on a window sill. Young readers will enjoy the brief rhymed text and find themselves chiming in on the repeated refrain, "Nat the cat can sleep like that!" And they will especially relish telling the unwritten story depicted in the large, mixed-media illustrations. In the three-quarter-page pictures that appear beneath the text, occasionally interspersed with double-page bleeds featuring close-ups of the two felines, the energetic kitten who plays with Nat at night tries repeatedly to rouse him during the day. He dangles string toys in front of the lazy cat's face, rolls balls, plays the piano, tries to entice him with games-all to no avail. But whether sleeping or cavorting through the house, these two kitties are sure to win youngsters' hearts.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT