CAT AND MOUSE AND SOMETHING TO DO

A curious little book that treats the imagination as a yo-yo, expertly played by Testa. An omniscient narrator addresses a boy directly: “Why are you bored? Is there nothing to do? What are you thinking?” The boy troops upstairs into the attic, rummages about, and then heads to the kitchen to gather up a few more items. His moves are questioned by the narrator, for whom understanding comes when the boy seats himself at a table and begins to draw an elaborate still life that he has arranged. The text is minimal, offering few cues as to what is afoot. It is the artwork, a burnished delight, that maintains the momentum, establishing characters and settings and pretty much leading readers around by the nose. Amid the flood of imagery, certain pieces are singled out to share the great expanses of white that serve as a field for the text; they seem random at first, though their continuing presence increases their importance in the story. All suggestions culminate in the last page, where the mystery lifts, inevitably, and the enormously appealing adventure has just begun. (Picture book. 2-5)