IT'S MY SAUSAGE

Five hungry cats vie for one “yummy, scrummy sausage.”

With a limited autumnal color palette, the cats and the owner’s home are realized in rough but expressive fashion. The text is short, with many onomatopoeic sounds and easy words enabling children to read much of it themselves. The five cats are distinct in color and variously accessorized, allowing readers to distinguish them and assign gender as they choose. The plot essentially consists of the golden-haired cat’s titular assertion of ownership and defense of the meat product as each of the other four attempts to steal it in various slapstick schemes. Astute viewers will notice a spotted, brown shape in the corner of a scene showing a living-room floor littered with mouse traps and Lego blocks with yarn tangled all about. These are all booby traps for the four cats trying to steal the sausage, wrapped with a small string, from under its protective dome. The black cat springs into action, makes it through the minefield, and almost gets the sausage only to have it yanked away by the gold cat once again. The greedy kitty prepares to gobble the treat down but is stormed by the others, causing the sausage to bounce out of the cat’s mouth and go right in the open mouth of—a large brown, spotted dog.

Humorous, action-packed pictures combine with terse text to create an engaging cautionary tale about greed.