DOG AND CAT SHAKE A LEG

by Kate Spohn ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1996

Spohn (Night Goes By, p. 476, etc.) introduces Dog and Cat in the four brief episodes that comprise this amiable entry in the Easy-to-Read series. ""Friends"" puts the two pals plus Goose and Mouse at a dance where they have a rollicking good time. Dog helps Cat shop in ""The Hat."" ""Homebody"" makes the case for spending a beautiful day inside reading, and in ""Tried and True and Something New,"" the pair talk themselves into rollerblading. The stories recall James Marshall's George and Martha (1972) in the tone of the friendship and in the single-person households, without his frenetic zaniness. Simple ink and watercolor illustrations reinforce the action in a text with plenty of repetition and few multisyllabic words; those that do appear (e.g., rollerblades) are all part of this audience's vocabulary and are also clear from the context and visual clues. Cat and Dog each have distinct personalities, and their banter is comfortable and real. Beginning readers, who love stories about characters they already know, will hope that Cat and Dog return soon.

Pub Date: March 1, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1995

Categories: CHILDREN'S