CAT AND KIT

The British origins of this gorgeously illustrated tale are discernible in the presence of badgers and double-decker buses and in echoes of Rudyard Kipling's ``The Cat that Walked by Himself.'' Foundling Kit is taught the ways of the farm and the woods by wise old Cat, but is sent to town by a farmer as a present for his grandson. Kit pines in his new surroundings, missing his freedom to roam and the company of Cat, until the kind, observant grandson returns him to the farm. Koralek (The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams, 1994, etc.) describes a farm cat hunting at night in the woods: ``. . . with his head and his tail held high, walking alone, as most cats do, ready now and free to watch the wild and hunt for his food and protect his own.'' A sweet story rendered in quiet, almost stately prose, framed by the luxuriant vegetation and appealing animals in MacCarthy's trademark batik paintings. Bold visual elements make it an ideal book to share with a group. (Picture book. 4-7)