THIS LITTLE KITTY

Five frisky felines have an eventful day.

A black cat with wide eyes starts the morning off right: “Wake up! It’s time to play!” Four other bedraggled cats stretch, yawn, and get ready for breakfast. In rollicking rhyme, the kittens find their groove: “It’s playtime now! / Let’s crouch… / coil… / pounce! / A feather, / a mouse, / a ball to bounce!” Then, with a swift page turn, the kittens are back to snoozing. “Whew. Playtime is / over and done. / And, oh, what’s this? / A patch of sun?” Too tempting to resist. Filling her book with catnaps, clawed curtains, and hairballs, Obuhanych (making her authorial debut) clearly knows her subject well. But her illustrations are where the kittens come to life; each furball has their own distinct personality, especially through half-lidded stares as they deliberately get into mischief. When the day finally comes to a close, yellow eyes peer out from the darkness. This little kitty is ready for a nighttime adventure, too. Readers get only a glimpse of humans’ limbs as a pair of brown legs swing from the bed or brown- and light-skinned hands reach down to ruffle fur. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sure to have cat lovers rejoicing.