Stowaway in a Sleigh

September 26, 2016
Slipper, the cat first seen in Lost Cat (2013), has a chance encounter with Santa Claus that leads to an unexpected North Pole adventure. When Santa—or “Mr. Furry Boots,” as Slipper refers to him—visits her home, the cat sneaks into his now-empty bag. Santa unknowingly whisks her away on the sleigh back to his headquarters, where Ms. Furry Boots “let the cat out of the bag!” When Slipper starts to miss her home, Santa embarks on a return trip in his sleigh. As in his previous books, Mader excels at capturing the skulking movements of a curious cat, and his pastels exude a glowing warmth and softness: Slipper’s fur, Santa’s boots, and the fluffy snow all look real enough to touch. It’s a sweet, understated Christmas adventure that hums with the holiday magic that unfolds while children are nestled snug in their beds. Ages 4–7. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

A larger-than-life cat's face with glowing, green eyes peeks out of a red sack on the cover of this story about a stowaway in Santa's sleigh, with those compelling eyes silently begging the reader to open the cover. The appealing feline star of the story is a calico cat named Slipper. She hears footsteps in "the darkest hour of the night," and in a stunning double-page spread, a nearly life-sized Slipper stalks the dark house ready to pounce. She finds that the source of the noise is Mr. Furry Boots, a familiar figure in a red suit and black boots trimmed with fluffy, white fur. Slipper slyly slips into Santa's sack and is inadvertently taken back to his house at the North Pole. In a clever play on words, Santa's wife, Ms. Furry Boots, shakes out the almost-empty toy sack: "And she let the cat out of the bag!" (Mr. and Ms. Furry Boots are both white.) Slipper is soon homesick and sets off into the dark to try to find her way home. In a touching rescue, Santa finds the sad cat sitting in the sleigh and kindly flies her in first-class fashion back to her own house on Christmas night. Exceptionally striking illustrations use unusual perspectives and dramatic pacing, with the dark, nighttime settings skillfully creating suspense and mood. A subtle focus on feet includes the cat's name, Santa's boots, several pairs of elf feet in pointed shoes bedecked with bells, and a pair of furry red slippers that make Slipper the cat long for home. The succinct, perfectly paced text makes every carefully chosen word count. This stowaway is here to stay as a new Christmas classic. (Picture book. 2-7) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-When Slipper, a tabby house cat with green eyes, investigates strange footsteps in the middle of the night, she meets "Mr. Furry Boots" (Santa, of course). She is immediately smitten with him, and some shared milk cements their friendship. While he distributes presents, Slipper crawls into the big, soft bag left on the floor and unwittingly becomes a passenger on the sleigh. At the North Pole, she soon sets out to explore, but there is little magic here. The gift wrapping room with its hard stools and assembly line setup could be a dingy basement in a mid-range department store. Though Slipper is briefly amused by a toy mouse and befriended by a reindeer, it's no surprise when the homesick feline runs off. Mr. Furry Boots finds her sitting wistfully in the sleigh and takes her back home, but the resolution falls flat. VERDICT With predictable plotting, little dialogue, and dark backgrounds that obscure visual details even on close perusal, this slight tale may appeal to ardent cat lovers but few others.-Linda Israelson, Los Angeles Public Library

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