WE'LL HAVE A FRIEND FOR LUNCH

Led by Peaches who wishes she could be a mighty hunter like her big-talking friends pretend to be, five tough cats form a bird watching club -- the idea being to study their prospective prey before having them for lunch. After mastering the book, the cats watch an actual pair of robins, waiting until the young hatch so there will be more birds to go around -- but as Buster says when the young birds have become properly fattened, ""We can't eat a family we know. We can't even hate a family we know."" Croll's strutting cats have a scribbly jauntiness that keeps the otherwise commonplace pictures alive, and for a while Peaches keeps you wondering what will happen next. But -- the added claim to social relevance notwithstanding, Flory's sentimental ending is likely to disappoint anyone who hasn't anticipated it.