Review_CHILDREN’S
68 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ OCTOBER 14, 2019
Review_CHILDREN’S
★ Goodnight, Rainbow Cats
Bàrbara Castro Urío. Chronicle, $10.99 (26p) ISBN 978-1-4521-8213-1
A kaleidoscopic cast of 12 cats say goodnight in this con-
temporary interactive die-cut board book, winner of a 2019
Bologna Ragazzi Award. One by one, variously colored cats
approach the cut-out door of a big white house. As each enters
the home, a window appears on the next page, illuminated by
the hue of the entrant settling in for bed. Featureless aside from
white eyes, the kitties are simply drawn, making them suitable
companions to Urio’s plain, repetitious narration: “Here comes
Little Crimson Cat, yawning on her way.” The unfrilly approach
rightly places all the emphasis on the book’s die-cut innova-
tion—it’s magic to watch as the white house slowly transforms
into a rainbow of slumbering felines. Ages up to 3. (Nov.)Doodle Cat Wears a Cape
Kat Patrick, illus. by Lauren Farrell. Scribble, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-
1-947534-98-8
With a tea towel for a cape, a striking red feline named
Doodle Cat shows off “cool superpowers” such as saving a
human (really a pillow), firing high-speed furballs, and
becoming invisible (inside a box). But when none of these
powers help him cheer up his friend, Pangolin, the feline takes
a new approach. Wearing a tea towel, Pangolin is soon
showing off: smelling everything (especially Doodle Cat’s
toots), digging, and licking the Milky Way with a long curly
tongue. “Together we are superfriends,” the pair declares,
inviting others (including the reader) to don capes and join
them in discovering their own unique powers. Bold, sketchlike
illustrations accompany Doodle Cat’s childlike first-person
narration (“I am Doodle Cat./ Look at my cape!”), and goofy
scenes of the happy companions suggest that friendship, replete
with costume, is the ultimate superpower. Ages 2–7. (Oct.)Stretchy McHandsome
Judy Schachner. Dial, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-4121-8
The youngest of nine feral felines, a likable cat named
Stretchy—a “butterscotch boy” with one green eye and one
blue—goes on a life-altering adventure in this rhyming tale.
Hoping to take a holiday from his “cantankerous” siblings,
Stretchy ventures out alone, leaving scratch marks all over
town, visiting with his tiger cousins at the zoo, and more.
While lying in a bookstore window, he is spotted by his
human soulmate—a curly-haired girl named Beanie whose
eyes match Stretchy’s—and the pair are so “smitten” they fall
into a dual stretch. When the other McHandsomes, one kilt-
clad, come after him, Stretchy’s exploits bring friendship into
all of their lives. In Schachner’s carefully busy and frequently
silly mixed-media scenes, Stretchy seems as cuddly—and as
glad to find Beanie—as he is flexible. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)★ Bodega Cat
Louie Chin. Pow!, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-57687-932-0
A cat named Chip takes readers through his day in this hip,
comic-style picture book about a bodega’s role in a bustling
city neighborhood. From the early morning deliveries with
Dominican bodega proprietor Papi to the breakfast rush,
taking inventory, and working the
register, Chip—self-proclaimed
“boss of this bodega”—has a paw in
every aspect of the store’s operation.
In the afternoon, Chip takes a break
from supervising to romp and lounge
with human brother Damian and the
feline “boss” of a nearby Korean
grocer, with whom Chip and family share a genial meal at
day’s end. Chin’s attentive watercolor, gouache, and digital art
features authentic city scenes, complete with piragua cart on
the street corner and an inclusive mix of bodega visitors. A
smart feline-centric introduction to an underappreciated
N.Y.C. landmark institution: the corner bodega and its cat.
Ages 3–5. (Sept.)How About a Night Out?
Sam Williams, illus. by Matt Hunt. Boxer, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-
912757-14-5
“City cats, like city lights,/ Come out to play on city
nights.” Williams and Hunt depict the nocturnal lives of
urban felines in this jazzy rhyming story. Beneath a flat black
night sky sparkling with yellow stars, a crew of cool cats
“creep about.../ and sneak about,” appearing to have the run
of things. In city scenes mostly devoid of humans, the sleek
subjects sneak around a subway entrance, spin on a play-
ground carousel, “swoon/ to the moon” atop a roof, and gen-
erally “have a night to sing about” that’s written in lively
rhyme. Hunt’s illustrations move across a cityscape with the
energy of his curious, prowling subjects. When day breaks,
the kitties finally head home to catch some much-needed
Zzzs, offering readers a break-of-day bedtime story for young
nighttime dreamers. Ages 3–6. (Oct.)The Lost Kitten
Leyla Torres, illus. by Ángeles Ruiz. Reycraft, $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-
1-4788-6867-5
In this simple tale of a stray kitten and a hopeful girl, Papa
inadvertently brings a tabby kitten, “softer than cotton,” into
the house with the groceries, and Emilia immediately asks to
keep him. But Papa maintains they ask the neighbors if
they’ve lost the feline first. As the two make their way around
the area, kind residents helpfully offer supplies (“how about a
stuffed mouse?”). But the family returns home to ask Mama, aThe Cat’s Meow
Purr-fect new picture books consider feline concerns.