Tiptop Cat

Starred review from October 6, 2014
Every cat owner knows how much felines love to perch, and Mader’s self-possessed, black-and-white hero has found the best perch of all: the chimney tops of his owner’s Paris apartment building, where he enjoys killer views of the Eiffel Tower. Showing the same attention to feline behavior demonstrated in his debut, Lost Cat, Mader often uses multiple frames and panels to track the cat’s wanderings, mingling precision and sly humor in his pastel images. A wrong step in pursuit of a pigeon almost puts an end to it all: in a sequence of funny-scary images, the cat tumbles down story by story, past a pianist, a woman doing a yoga headstand, and a transfixed beagle before falling through an awning and into the arms of a well-positioned greengrocer. “Nothing was broken except... his spirit,” writes Mader, but with some unintended help from a like-minded connoisseur of vistas, the cat is soon “on top of the world again.” With knowing, understated narration, this is storytelling at its most elegant. Ages 4–8. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

May 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 3-A curious and intrepid feline familiarizes himself with his new home, both indoors and outdoors. But one day, in pursuit of the pigeon that lands on his balcony, the cat pounces and experiences a great fall. He isn't hurt, but his spirit is broken. He becomes fearful and no longer does the things that he used to do. But then a crow shows up, and slowly but surely, the chase is on again. Lizan Mitchell's narration conveys the cat's initial curiosity and daring adventuresome spirit, as well as its subsequent fear, caution, and return of confidence. The story is available on two tracks; one with, and one without page-turn signals. VERDICT This lively and engaging story gently delivers on the theme of trying, failing, and trying again.-Mary Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

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