JAMAICA IS THANKFUL

When Jamaica’s friend Kristin comes over, she’s got a kitten in a shoebox with her. She can’t keep the kitten, she explains, because her older cat doesn’t get along with it. Would Jamaica like to have Puffy? Jamaica’s doubtful, because her brother, Ossie, is allergic to cats, but Puffy’s only a kitten, and he’s sooo cute. It doesn’t take long before Ossie starts sneezing (Jamaica had made a bed for Puffy out of his spare football jersey), and Jamaica reluctantly decides that Puffy will have to go to Kristin’s aunt after all. Like its predecessors in the series, this has a winning simplicity. There are no hijinks, no tantrums—just Jamaica’s hope and her subsequent acceptance of reality. Kristin should be thankful she can have a cat at all, says Jamaica, but she should be thankful, too, that she has a brother. O’Brien’s warm pastel-and-watercolor illustrations depict Jamaica and her family with a soft-edged affection. It’s not all bad to be reminded to be thankful. (Picture book. 4-8)