ALLEY CAT RALLY

A cat participates in a race car adventure, earning the respect of her feline friends.

Asta is strolling through an alley at night when a group of cats zooms by in race cars, calling her a “slowpoke.” When she learns about a race on Saturday at Kibble Hill, she gathers her tools and blowtorch and transforms her washing machine into a functional if blocky racing vehicle. After a test drive down Mount Tuna Road, it’s off to the races for four fast-paced spreads. Asta is the first (“by a whisker!”) to cross the finish line. Cat lovers and fans of auto racing, in particular, will get a kick out of seeing the cats’ creatively rendered vehicles: Ludlow drives a melon-shaped car; Marvin steers a motorized shopping cart; and Professor Kim has built an impressive, elaborate cat-shaped vehicle that she controls from inside a bubble top. There’s much humor in seeing the determined cats, some in racing goggles, fly down the track that loops through town on spreads dominated by vivid oranges, reds, and yellows. Detailed jokes await observant readers, such as the presence of a “Cat-olic Church” on the spread showing the racing map. The book’s abrupt rim shot ending leaves readers wondering if Asta dreamed it all, a resolution that may disappoint some readers who experience a vicarious thrill in Asta’s win.

Start your engines for some energetic fun.