HARRY KITTEN AND TUCKER MOUSE

In a prequel to the classic A Cricket in Times Square and other beloved stories of animal denizens of New York City, Selden recounts the first days of the friendship of two of his major characters, beginning almost as far back as they can remember. Lightly plotted--events are limited to the self-naming of the two, a quest through such interesting city locations as the docks, Gramercy Park and the bowels of the Empire State Building before settling on the Times Square subway station as a satisfactory home, with a brief skirmish with three invading rats as climax--the book's charm lies in the affectionate glow of the developing friendship and Selden's adeptly whimsical conversations and descriptions. Readers entranced by the tour will be willing enough to forgive such logical lapses as the remarkable knowledge of the city on the part of the newly born. The generously ample, well-designed format makes an appropriate backdrop for Williams' vigorously comic re-creations of these new antics of old favorites. Not the best in the series, but a pleasure nonetheless.