TOM FINGER

In McClure’s (Selkie, 1999, etc.) wintry and whimsical tale a girl mourns her dead cat in spite of her brother’s protests. Everyday in front of her house, Queenie calls for her late Tabby, but Ben, her cynical little brother, rebukes her. “Stop calling your Tabby, he won’t come back!” yells Ben, but Queenie persists. Instead, another Tabby named Tom Finger shows up. Tom, an enormous upright cat with popping blue eyes and long gangly limbs, intrigues Queenie. He frightens Ben, though, and younger readers may agree with him. When she asks the cat where he’s from, her brother calls out, “Somewhere spooky!” and the odd feline disappears. In the days that follow, Tom Finger returns and tries to woo Queenie with little gifts. But her brother, who’s convinced he’s a “witches cat,” drives him away. When Tom brings her an unraveling wool shawl, Queenie finally breaks free from her brother’s paranoid warnings and follows the yarn. He safely leads her like a guardian angel through the icy woods to a blind old woman’s house full of kittens. The woman thanks Queenie for returning her things (which apparently Tom Finger had swiped) and gives her a kitten to take home. There’s a lot of what and not a lot of why, as the themes of grief, trust, and courage cloud together. McClure’s formal prose also tries too hard to sound like an old-fashioned fairy tale, but her swooping and passionate watercolors do entertain. Little audiences will probably find the ending worth some confusion for the adorable little kittens that appear at the old woman’s house. An erratic adventure with compelling moments. (Picture book. 4-8)