THE CAT ON THE MAT IS FLAT
by Andy Griffiths & illustrated by Terry Denton
“ ‘Alas! Alack!’ said Harry Black. / ‘I cannot give that yak a whack! / or he’ll attack me with that tack!’ ” The creators of the aptly titled Just Disgusting (2004) reunite for nine rhymed romps, including the adventures of ducks Chuck and Buck and a muck-sucking truck, Ed and Ted co-habiting a shed and the pursuit of the ill-fated titular feline by a rat with a baseball bat. Paired to a few lines of primer-sized verse on each page, Denton’s scribbly line drawings of frantic, stick-limbed figures add appropriately frenetic touches. Definitely not your parents’ easy reader, but perfect for fans of Lane Smith’s Happy Hockey Family (1993). (Poetry. 6-8)