Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat

March 27, 1995
``When you feel bored, you read a book. But dogs can't read,'' Miller points out. Lest people have all the fun, she's designed this chapter book with canine sensibilities in mind. Each tale is addressed to ``you good dog,'' enabling readers to speak directly to a pet. ``The Burglar'' testifies to the fierceness and bravery ``you'' exhibit after hearing a knock on the door; ``The Bone'' chronicles the history of a gift from ``your friend,'' including a dream sequence about a splendid ``bone tree''); and ``The Wild Dog'' is an adventure in which ``you'' frighten a car, chase a squirrel and triumphantly return home for a can of food and a nap. Kelley (I Really Want a Dog) sketches a floppy brown Everydog who wags attentively at the narrator's voice, then enacts each role of eating, sleeping and protecting the house; the illustrator's familiarity with doggy expressions and gestures serves Miller's volume well. Humans will find these selections entertaining even without a hound present-but it's always nice to share. Ages 7-10.

March 31, 1997
Miller and Kelley follow up their clever Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog with a blithe feline equivalent. Each of three stories includes animated descriptions of prowling and yowling, told in the second person as though a housecat were both main character and willing audience. "The Rainy Day" portrays a restless protagonist on a wet morning: "You went to sit under the dining room table. `Maybe some food will fall,' you said to yourself. `Sometimes food does that.' " The next entry, "The Yummy Bug," details the suspenseful pursuit of a spotted beetle. And the ironic "The Good Day" finds the hero trying to "be good" by gnawing a houseplant ("`Mmmmm,' you said to yourself. `That was very, very good' ") and excavating the kitchen trash (" `This is better than good,' you said. `This is GREAT!' "). Miller employs snappy sentences, a keen eye for kitty foibles and a quirky wit. Kelley's uncomplicated pen-and-ink and watercolor images show an attention to familiar cat poses; a pampered and plump gray cat crouches, bathes itself, climbs curtains and sharpens its claws. Even if cats don't deign to sit through a reading, this chapter book (like its canine companion volume) provides plenty of amusement for humans. Ages 7-10.