SLOBCAT

This attractive book transcends the dozens of stories about cats with secret second lives in a couple of significant ways: while the child-narrator describes her pet's indolent habits, the illustrations show him engaged in activities that are not only lively but sometimes heroic and/or amusing (he saves mice from a trap, but frightens off rats, a snake, and even a burglar); the precise watercolors include some remarkably well-observed passages. An old theme with just the right touch to give it new interest. (Picture book. 2-7)