HORATIO SOLVES A MYSTERY

Where is Mrs. Casey's tape measure? And who tore a chunk out of her big beautiful cake? And what's become of her new eyeglass case? No one is around but cat Horatio; and the more upset she gets, the more irritated he becomes; Mrs. Casey ought to know better than to blame him or to speak to him like that! Then Horatio's new catnip tiger disappears too; he thinks Mrs. Casey has hidden it on purpose; and in the course of prowling around he follows his nose to her room. . . and finds a red-jacketed monkey making mischief. Up to that point, the pages turn lickety-split; once the monkey appears--he belongs to Mrs. Casey's new next-door neighbor--we're back in children's bookland (way back, in the Thirties). But Horatio and a contrite Mrs. Casey are nicely reconciled at the close, and though the illustrations have none of the slyness of the text, they do broadcast its purposes. Okay entertainment, then, despite the disappointing end.