CAROUSEL CAT

You can almost hear the music when Dan cranks up the Pavilion O’ Fun, a splendid old carousel on the boardwalk near the shore. Each morning, Dan, Madam Fortune and The World’s Strongest Tattooed Man take a turn around with an orange marmalade cat who is always there before them. However, when the new amusement park, Scaryland, opens next door, the carousel must close, along with most of the concessions and games. The friends all meet at Mr. Tony’s Char-Broil, wishing they could ride the carousel one more time. When there’s a fire at Mr. Tony’s, and the cat disappears, alert children will remember how she got into the Pavilion O’ Fun before Dan and company (a sequence before the title page shows how). Now the friends discover that she’s rescued her kittens and they rescue her and all go for one last ride. The ink-and-watercolor art is worthy of its subject, as Blake portrays his characters, the ginger cats, the boardwalk concessions and the carousel in all their gaudy and fabulous splendor. An author’s note indicates Asbury Park, New Jersey as the source. (Picture book. 3-8)