KATIE LOVES THE KITTENS

The traditional animosity between cats and dogs gets turned on its head in this story of a cat-loving dog named Katie. When three kittens join the household, boisterous Katie is thrilled to have potential playmates. She repeatedly howls at the newcomers as she tries to engage them in play, but this only frightens the kittens and leads to repeated scoldings from the pets’ owner, a rather callous girl named Sara Ann. After a long nap, Katie finds the kittens asleep on top of her, and when she remains quiet and calm, she finds that the kitties are happy to play with their doggie companion, as seen on the final wordless page. Katie, a hound of indeterminate breed, has lots of personality in the watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, and the tiny kittens with huge, green eyes are appealing as well. The story, however, does not pad along on little cat feet, but instead plods through the predictable plot with too many exclamation points and explanations of Katie’s feelings. A spunky pup caught in a lethargic tale. (Picture book. 3-6)