PAPA GATTO
adapted by Ruth Sanderson & illustrated by Ruth Sanderson
Cinderella meets Puss-in-Boots in a tale that takes place against the opulent backdrop of 16th-century Italy. Wealthy Papa Gatto, a cat, hires beautiful Sophia as a nanny for his motherless kittens, but she neglects them and steals a diamond necklace. Papa Gatto next hires Sophia's plain stepsister Beatrice with far better results. After ably sourcing her story, Sanderson (The Enchanted Wood, 1991, etc.) evokes a traditional fairy-tale world, right down to the muted primary colors and lighting techniques of the Renaissance. The tale is well told, in slightly formal language, but the realistic vividness of the paintings steals the show. If there is a flaw, it's that Beatrice is just as pretty as her sister—the word plain would never apply. And if there's little here that readers haven't seen before, it's so remarkably executed that it's well worth seeing again. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)