THE THREE LEGGED CAT

The premise may be slight, but the witty Mahy makes use of it with her usual panache. Tom the cat yearns to travel, but is kept home by a peg leg. His mistress, Mrs. Gimble, a sedate widow, would prefer an even quieter cat, one that slept all the time. When her footloose brother Danny turns up for his annual visit, an inadvertent swap—Danny puts Tom on his bald pate instead of his scruffy, molting hat—leaves all three happier: Tom gets to see the world; drifter Danny is glad to share his sausages with the wonderfully warm new companion he wears on his head; and Mrs. Gimble has "never had a better cat...cheap to keep, and always asleep." Allen's cheerfully bug-eyed characters, plenty big and bold enough to share with a group, wonderfully extend the merriment. (Picture book. 3-8)