CONE CAT

After awakening at the vet’s wearing a cone, a cat discovers it holds advantages.

A period of disgruntled adjustment finds Jeremy “knocking into doorjambs and backing his way down the stairs with all the grace of a fat squirrel.” He unsuccessfully engages in usual pursuits: spider-stalking, “redecorating” (i.e., un-stuffing the couch), and hiding from “little human” Ava. Fortuitously, during Jeremy’s tabletop encounter with Ava’s breakfast leftovers, the cone catches the bowl’s edge, tipping Fruity O’s and milk into both Jeremy’s mouth and cone—a snack “for later!” Jeremy’s conical capers culminate at Ava’s birthday party, where he joins a line of children waiting for ice cream. Ava’s distracted dad plops a scoop right onto Jeremy’s head—and into that catchall cone. Naturally, the day of liberation soon arrives, when “one of the tall humans” whisks the cone away. Resuming his usual antics, Jeremy wonders if anything will rival his “glory days with the Cone.” The answer comes immediately, in a mishap involving a fly, a potted houseplant, and the draperies. A last illustration delivers the visual punchline: Cone Cat’s back, sporting a bandaged forepaw. Howden’s wry telling is matched by Mok’s simple pastel illustrations, accented with red and gold. Children appear with varied skin tones and hair textures, uniformly D-shaped mouths, and dot eyes. Ava presents Asian.

This amusing, essentially one-joke tale should resonate with cat-loving kids and families.