PAY ATTENTION TO ME!

Move over, internet cats—this feline has something to say.

Though Edgar’s humans oohed and aahed over him when he was a kitten, now they spend all their time looking at images of other cats online and in print. How to receive the adulation he so deserves? By becoming the most famous cat in the world, of course! Edgar proceeds with his plan (“a three-claw approach”). Step one: “show them how smart he [is].” Step two: “prove he’s star material.” And step three: “call on the wisdom of his ancestors” (his grandfather’s words—“If I fits, I sits”—come to mind). Edgar’s humans aren’t impressed by his ability to scratch his name on the back of the sofa or the dance number he performs on the dining room table. Despondent, he takes a nap and dreams of the fame that eludes him—but perhaps celebrity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. McKean’s tongue-in-cheek text plays cleverly off the popularity of cats online while capturing the divalike essence of real-life felines. In Justus’ energetic illustrations, Edgar’s an appropriately flamboyant, over-the-top figure, whether busting a move while clad in leg warmers and skates or (in the dream sequence) posing on the cover of Cat Vogue in a crown and ballgown. Edgar’s human family appears to be multiracial; one adult and child are brown-skinned, while the other adult is pale-skinned.

A witty tale that oozes “cat”-titude.