COOL CAT, HOT DOG

A cat and a dog face off, each trying to one-up the other as it describes its own unique attributes. Each double-page spread features the cat’s contribution on verso, the dog’s on recto, as things escalate. Cat: “I scratch. I do as I want.” Dog: “I fetch. I do as I’m told.” Cat: I’ve got fleas.” Dog: “Mine are itchier.” Turner employs a mostly muted palette, mixed-media collages mostly in tans and blacks. Both cat and dog are created using textured papers and brass paper-fasteners at the joints, resulting in a deceptively simple, childlike appearance. But there’s nothing simple about the sophistication of the compositions, which either oppose or interact in deliciously clever ways. When the cat says, “I’m mysterious. I’ve an independent nature,” and the dog responds with “I’m man’s best friend. I’m the leader of the pack,” the reader sees the animals’ hapless owner thrown entirely off-balance as the dog—not even pictured on the page—hauls him off to the right, while the cat’s tail slinks out the cat door on the left. A supper truce can only suspend, never end, the eternal competition. Good fun. (Picture book. 4-8)