MEAN MURGATROYD AND THE TEN CATS

To tell, this is a feeble contrivance: to protect her ten cats from mean dog Murgatroyd (and the other canines who come at his bark), Abigail decides she should have a lion; and when none is available (the pet shop's sold out, the zoo just unloaded its spare), she takes a cue from a costume shop-window. (Since nobody smells anything wrong, it works.) Unlike Positively No Pets Allowed, this has no grounding or local coloring; its one asset is the limber Tony Auth cartoons. Arabella's ten cats have a bevy of cat-personalities--and some of the other, supernumerary animals also suggest that Auth could have fun with a real animal character. The book is sufficiently entertaining to look at, in sum, that its failings might be overlooked.