LEVIN THE CAT

These are the times that try everyone’s souls—even a cat’s.

Levin, a rambunctious feline, lives with Jane, a nurse. The Covid-19 pandemic is raging, and Jane, like other medical professionals, works at her hospital for long hours and isn’t at home much. Levin misses her. Then Daniel, Jane’s friend and another community first responder, tells Levin that Jane’s assigned to the isolation unit and won’t be home at all for a while. Daniel cares for Levin and helps him “visit” Jane via phone conferencing. Eventually, Levin moves elsewhere and makes new animal and human friends and enemies. He also willingly becomes something of a community helper himself, knowing that everyone must pull together in a crisis. This gently told, hopeful, nonfrightening tale, translated from Chinese and obviously set in the present moment, isn’t so much a story as it is purpose-driven: It aims to help youngsters easily understand what the current emergency is about and what it demands of everyone. Casting a loving, sympathetic pet as the protagonist makes the story accessible, comprehensible, and upbeat. Children who know frontline workers will find support here. Illustrations are sweet and lively; Levin is spunky, energetic, and personable. Common-sense recommended guidelines about social distancing and mask wearing are incorporated into a spread; the passage of weeks is depicted with digital clocks. Jane and Daniel both have pale skin and straight, brown hair; background characters are diverse.

A useful narrative that, one fervently hopes, will become obsolete before too long.