Cats, Cats, Cats!

Cats, Cats, Cats!

Mrs. Brown lives in a huge house with a bevy of cats that sleep during the day but turn into regular party animals at night as they bake seven-layer cakes and put on plays leaving Mrs. Brown to clean up their mess in the morning. A tiny old woman named Mrs. Brown lives in a big house on the edge of town with no one but cats, cats, cats to keep her company. All day long, as Mrs. Brown goes about her business, the cats snooze away. But as soon as she puts down their 60 bowls of cat food and marches herself up to bed, the cats go wild. Cats throwing confetti, eating spaghetti, chasing their tales, cutting a rug, doing the fox trot and the jitterbug, these feisty felines "whoop it up until the dawn." The ever-tolerant Mrs. Brown wakes every morning to a complete mess, but simply sweeps her beloved cats into a heap so they can get their beauty sleep. Although some consider Mrs. Brown to be a little batty, she scoffs at the thought. "Oh fiddle dee dee! / I love my cats and they love me." Lesléa Newman's amusing cat romp is perfectly paired with Erika Oller's playful watercolors of dozens upon dozens of snoozing and frolicking felines. Newman is the well-known author of Heather Has Two Mommies and Matzo Ball Moon , as well as many books for adults. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter PreS-Gr 1-An elderly lady who lives all alone fills her house with "cats, cats, cats!" They sleep all day while she's up and about, but at night, it's a different story. "While Mrs. Brown was tucked in tight/The cats would party every night/They'd chase their tails, they'd cut a rug/They'd fox-trot and they'd jitterbug/-They'd whoop it up until the dawn/Those cats could really carry on." By morning, the felines are sound asleep and the house is in a shambles. Smiling, Mrs. Brown tucks them in and cleans up the mess, showing readers that despite all the nocturnal mischief, her love is unconditional. Told in a rambling singsong verse, this story gets off to a slow start. The first part is devoted to describing the woman's affection for her pets and her daily activities, and readers will have to make their way through half of the book before the critters actually wake up and do something. The soft watercolor pictures have pale colors and blurred edges. Like the writing, there's some potential but nothing dynamic or substantial enough to carry the book. As fluffy as the fluffiest cats in the Brown household, this story is for serious feline lovers only.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Ages 4-7. Mrs. Brown, the quintessential little old cat lady, lives on the edge of town with her 60 cats. All day they accompany her, catnapping by her side as she enjoys her coffee, cleans house, tends her garden, takes her nap. But at night. . . ."As soon as she begins to snore / The fun begins with cats galore / Cats in the entryway throwing confetti / Cats in the dining room eating spaghetti." All night cats knit, eat, read, write, perform, and party; and in the morning Mrs. Brown lovingly cleans up after them. Oller's fun-loving watercolors portray all kinds of cats in all manner of positions as the rhyming text reveals the goings on in the zany household. Helen Rosenberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Lesléa Newman is the author of several picture books, including Matzo Ball Moon illustrated by Elaine Greenstein and Too Far Away to Touch illustrated by Catherine Stock. Her literary awards include a Highlights for Children fiction writing award and a Parents' Choice Silver Medal. She was inspired to write Cats, Cats, Cats! by her own two cats, Princess Sheba Darling and Precious Sammy Dearest, who sleep all day and romp all night! Lesléa Newman lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.