MRS. PEACHTREE AND THE EIGHTH AVENUE CAT

Even Mrs. Peachtree's name belies her gruff exterior, so it's no surprise when she and a persistent stray cat reach affectionate accommodation; but it is satisfying. The old lady's comments may be harsh (``Must that cat stare like a fool in love?''; ``Don't you try to butter me up, cat''; or, prophetically, ``You are not my shadow. And I am not your fish cake''). Still, each time he reappears after she's chased him away, she feeds him. A longer absence in bad weather makes her feelings clearer: `` `Call me fish cake,' '' she tells the purring cat when he returns, bumptiously spilling her tea, `` `And I'll call you Shadow.' '' The brisk, funny dialogue suits the story for reading alone or aloud. Beier's watercolors set the story in a turn-of-the-century city; deftly, she underlines Mrs. Peachtree's ambivalence through both facial expressions and body language. A worthy corollary to Wild/Vivas's The Very Best of Friends (1990); Segal/Zelinsky's The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat (1985) would make a pungent contrast. (Picture book. 4-8)