MITTENS FOR KITTENS: And Other Rhymes About Cats

It's surprising how many felines do pop up in familiar nursery rhymes -- on ""The Road to St. Ives,"" and in ""Three Little Kittens,"" ""I Love Little Pussy,"" ""Ding, Dong Bell"" and others -- and, to balance the familiar sweetness, in the gutsier rhymes of ""Chitterbob,"" ""I doot, I door, my fire's out,"" and ""Lingle, lingle, lang tang,/ Our cat's dead!/ What did she die with?/ With a sore head!"" Blegvad varies the cat theme with a heterogeneous lot of illustrations -- both color and black and white, homey and fantastic, contemporary and period in style and dress -- but all united by his characteristic neatness and geniality. The tiny pictures are meant for one to one enjoyment, and achieve the modest scale and unassuming whimsicality that makes for a successful nursery rhyme experience.