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THE BEST CAT SUIT OF ALL by Sylvia Cassedy

THE BEST CAT SUIT OF ALL

by Sylvia Cassedy & illustrated by Rosekrans Hoffman

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1991
ISBN: 0-8037-0516-6
Publisher: Dial Books

Cassedy was notable for her dark, complex novels about lonely children, of which Lucie Babbidge's House (1989) was the last; in this book for beginning readers, she uses language with the same care to create a character of unusual subtlety for this level. It's Halloween, and the narrator is not only lamenting the friend, climate, and treats he had ``back where I used to live,'' but he's sick and can't go out. Nothing suits, especially the costumes of the other children, lovingly improvised by Hoffman, until one last pair of trick-or-treaters shows up: a witch who explains ``We're not together'' as she leaves the real black cat who arrived with her behind to come in and share a cozy fire. A warm, perceptive story for Halloween or any other time; the creatively designed illustrations perfectly reflect the emotions suggested in the text. (Easy reader. 4-8)