THE MOUSE AND THE KNITTED CAT

The Knitted Cat (KR, 1972) is back, cavorting against even more eye-shocking primary-color backgrounds and with a small accompaniment of words -- in which the yarn cat gets himself soaked, shrunk, and then dried out by a good Samaritan mouse who is shocked to see the cat stretch back to his full size. But there's none of the visible unraveling which was the whole point of the knitted cat's first visit and the added verbal stuffing (""Don't be afraid,"" . . . ""I won't hurt you. I know now what it's like to be as little as you are"") is as bland as the Cat and Mouse are impersonal. Though the Cat travels about as far as bright colors and clear design alone can take him, he has little else going for him.