WHERE DID MY MOTHER GO?

Little Cat doesn't see her but readers will catch frequent glimpses of his mother just a step or two ahead of him as he tricyles through Varminton--from service station to library to shopping center--on an increasingly frantic and ultimately tearful search. ""I have a good mind to give you a scolding. NEVER go away unless you tell me,"" admonishes Little Cat when he returns home to find his mother there ahead of him. This sentimentalized ""James James Morrison Morrison"" comes equipped with arch signs and notices (DIG WE MUST FOR A GROWING VARMINTON; LAWNS MOWED FAST AND CHEAP CALL HERMAN THE GOAT) and with busy, anarchronistic pictures (a ""supermarket"" that looks more like a corner store, a ""laundromat"" with wringer washers, twenties'-style frocks and autos) which swarm with almost tangibly furry animals. It all seems designed to evoke purrs of fond appreciation--and indeed it is too precious for words.