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TOMCAT TAKES A WALK by Pippa Unwin

TOMCAT TAKES A WALK

by Pippa Unwin & illustrated by Pippa Unwin

Pub Date: Aug. 15th, 1998
ISBN: 0-86264-705-3
Publisher: Collins & Brown/Trafalgar

This handsome book tells of a tomcat’s adventurous week while Taffy, his owner, is away. The story is told with an easy grace, in multiple frames per page, following the days of the week. The setting is a small English village and most of the action revolves around the tomcat finding a suitable place to snooze, none of which, of course, are particularly appropriate: a knapsack, a letter carrier’s bag, a kayak, the tray at the bottom of a stroller—each one transporting the cat to a new locale where he finds treats or raises havoc. He also has a wild streak, stealing a fish and having a dust up with a dog, which chases him all the way to the train station and right into the arms of his returning owner. Unwin uses words sparingly and simply—“Tomcat is lonely without Taffy. Who’s that walking past? Tomcat follows the walkers to the teashop”—and there is dialogue in balloons within the illustrations, giving the various places a sense of activity and life. The artwork has a lovely knack for capturing classic feline movements, as well as the hollyhocks and window boxes of cottages in the English countryside. (Picture book. 3-6)