NEVER LET YOUR CAT MAKE LUNCH FOR YOU

If the lighthearted title doesn’t grab readers, the spirited illustrations will, as a young girl tells what can happen when a highly anthropomorphized orange cat—a whiz at making breakfast—overreaches and attempts lunch. No pet lover will quibble with a helpful cat or dog, especially one who is good in the kitchen. What can be quibbled with, however, is that the range of the cat’s abilities given in the text is contradicted by the illustrations. Pebbles, the cat, wields a cast iron frying pan with ease, but must spread the peanut butter with her paw “because she can’t hold a knife.” She makes “scrambled eggs and bacon the best,” but displays eggs that are sunny-side up. Onlookers may be so befuddled that they’ll miss the cat’s true culinary sins (anchovy and mouse garnishes) that have resulted in the narrator’s admonishment of the title. It’s a cute book, but a sloppy one. (Picture book. 4-7)