WINTER CATS

Willy is an indoor cat, but outside looks enticing.

Willy’s mom says indoors is cozier (and it sure looks that way, with a fire in the wood stove and a grandfather clock ticking away). “ 'Those outdoor cats are weird and wild— / they’re not like us.’ said Dad. / But Willy wondered while he watched. / I bet they’re not so bad.” The little gray-striped black puss ventures out and sees the outdoor cats engaged in their Winter Carnival. A yellow tabby sees that Willy is new and invites him to try sledding, and the two of them speed down the hill. With a few more friends, they hang from icicles, build snow cats, make angels, and skate. “Too soon the sun was setting. / Willy said, ‘I have to go!’ / He added, ‘Come along with me, / I live indoors, you know.’ ” Once inside, the kittens play and have cookies and milk…and from then on visit every day. Lawler’s playful winter tale conveys a perhaps not-so-subtle message of acceptance of the differences of others; still, it will fit nicely into many storytimes with its bouncy rhyme and Everykitten characters. Smietanka’s smiling, anthropomorphic cartoon cats of various colors live as humans, and readers may well wonder how Willy’s family manages never to leave its suburban-style house—but it is a bright and cheery one.

Feline aficionados (and others) will not be left cold.