THE SKELETON AND THE CAT

A skeleton and her new feline companion navigate the joys and gentle absurdities of friendship.

Told in the spirit of James Marshall’s beloved George and Martha tales, this picture book is divided into five short, quietly funny vignettes, each a small comedy of manners between this unlikely pair. The Skeleton may look imposing, but her home tells a different story—lime-green cabinets topped with pink and blue flowers, a garden rife with color, a stocked home library. The Cat, persistent and wry, shows up at the Skeleton’s door uninvited and negotiates his way inside: “Would you like to hear a joke?” he asks. “No,” says the Skeleton. “If I tell you a joke and you like it, then can I come in?” In another tale, the Cat’s patient efforts to teach the Skeleton how to eat are met with earnest but hopeless confusion; the illustrations say everything the words cannot, and young readers will find the episode irresistible. The humor is dry and character-driven throughout, and the friendship utterly genuine. Scott’s text sits on clean white pages opposite full, cheerful artwork, including a showstopping spread of the pair dancing together in the flower-drenched garden. Prose and artwork blend seamlessly for a reminder that appearances—bony or otherwise—don’t always tell the whole story.

Funny, vibrant, and surprisingly tender—in short, everything a good friendship should be.