TEX AND SUGAR

Newman offers two tales of star-crossed kitty-cat, kitty-corner crooners who leave their western homes to hit Broadway and become “Superstar Kitties.” Sugar Lee Snughead could “quiet whole herds with the hum of a tune” while Tex Mex Rex’s songs could “put smiles on fields full of cattle and make an old rattlesnake give up her rattle.” They each move to the city seeking fame, but Tex’s only gig is washing dishes and Sugar’s big part in a show is the aisle, as an usher. Sadly, at home, “Both kitties crooned softly of old country places. It made them forget about tight city spaces.” The obvious happens: They find each other and stardom together. It’s the illustrations in this rhyming story that star; the cartoonish style is appropriate for the text though the busy page design with rope outlining crowds the focal points. Many details, like a strawberry hat and rhinestone suit, are fun, and the message to follow your dream is unobtrusive, but other recent, similarly themed picture books strike a stronger chord. (Picture book. 4-6)