SIPPI SUE AND THE COOL CAT BLUES

Sippi Sue’s one blues-loving puss.

Orange, smiling kitty Sippi Sue lives in a Mississippi Delta town. She grooves through her day to the sounds around her. Rain gives a good beat: “pitter-patter on the sill, / a drip-drip-dripping that’s so chill, / a plop-plop-plopping jive until / the rain begins to pound.” Napping in a crate, she dreams of cream and fish and then steals a treat from the butcher when the rain’s done. She struts past the riverboats at the docks. She plays a tune on garbage cans by jumping on their lids and scoots across town jiving to the ambient beat of her neighborhood. As night falls, she hears the sound of a juke joint and dances with the other cats to the “crazy cool cat blues.” Mississippian Greenway’s paw-tapping, onomatopoeic text about a happy cat’s finding music in her day will appeal to cat and music lovers. The rhyme has as much of a beat as the music it celebrates, but there’s not much tale to this tale. Tablason’s luminous, vibrant, adorably cartoony illustrations, nearly all full-bleed, are the real standout. The bayou comes through, and Sippi Sue practically dances off the pages.

This cat’s one-toothed smile will charm even the most ardent dog person.