BUFFY AND ALBERT

Grandpa is old, and so are his cats Buffy and Albert. In human terms, Grandpa calculates that Buffy would be 91 and Albert 112. But Pomerantz draws no heavy parallels between Grandpa's age and the cats'. In fact Grandpa, who lives alone and likes it, says he would also like to be rid of the cats, who are beginning to drool and to pee on the floor. That he finds them a nuisance is demonstrated handily, as when the cats' doctor prescribes vitamins and says that ""'with a little care, they may live for years.' 'Years!' exclaimed Grandpa."" Then Grandpa breaks his ankle and his two grandchildren are helping care for him. When Grandpa scolds Buffy, the little boy, crying, pipes up, ""She can't help it if she's old."" All this of course is leading up to Grandpa's confession, when he's up and about, that the cats gave him comfort when he was lying in bed. And when he gets back to his wood carving hobby, it's a cat shape that emerges from the wood. Beyond this admission of a mutual bond, it's good to see old cats and people recover and prosper, and good to see an easy reader that makes its points without a hammer.