Mort(e) by Robert Repino

Enormous ants mastermind a plot to rid the Earth of humans in this apocalyptic tale. All nonhuman animals become sentient. People's pets rise up against their former masters. Will nonhumans do better at civilization? 

I really enjoyed the Blackstone audiobook Mort(e) by Robert Repino [11 hrs 8 min]. It's perfectly narrated by Pinchot Bronson. (Remember Balki from Perfect Strangers?) Bronson has a versatile, animated delivery that mesmerized me.

Imagine a text-only mash-up of Duncan the Wonder Dog (Adam Hines), Ant Colony (Michael Deforge), Terra Formars (Yu Sasuga), Animal Farm (Orwell) and Cat Out of Hell (Lynn Truss). Whew! It's original, suspenseful, existential and thought-provoking.

Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss

Talking immortal cats, a satanic librarian with glowing red eyes, bumbling amateur detectives, and comedy--so much comedy!--are the ingredients in Cat Out of Hell. Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, had me hooked from the title alone.

And stayed hooked, because I listened to the audiobook [Recorded Books: 5 hr 14 min] all in one day. British audiobook narrator Mike Grady has a soothing voice, a counterpoint for the outlandishness of the tale and the moments of horror encountered therein.

The story is set in contemporary England and the narrator is Alec Charlesworth, a retired bookish man with a terrier named Watson. Alec and his wife chose this name especially for the opportunities to quote lines from Sherlock Holmes:

"Come Watson, come. The game's afoot."
"You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you invaluable as a companion."
"Watson, come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, com all the same."

Cat Out of Hell mixes nineteenth-century occultism with modern culture. Think of the Bunnicula children's stories by James and Deborah Howe which feature a vampire rabbit. At one point in the story, a cat recites lines from Tennyson's "Ulysses" which Alec says "I needn't dwell on because everyone in the world knows them quite well by now because of Judy Dench doing them in Skyfall.

If you are in the mood for a cozy cat mystery with a spike of Beelzebub, or need a devilish touch to convince you to tackle a talking animal tale, this will hit the spot!

Readalikes: Good Omens (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman); Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Lish McBride); and Something Rotten (Jasper Fforde)

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

The Guest Cat is a quietly luminous novella by Japanese poet Takashi Hiraide, translated by Eric Selland. There isn't much of a plot: a young couple renting a cottage in the suburbs of Tokyo interacts with a neighbour's cat.

It took a little while for Hiraide's descriptive prose to draw me in. I had to let my mind slow to the meditative rhythm, to the contemplation of moments of beauty, the inevitability of change, the natural cycles of life and death.

 "In mid-July, as the seasonal rains came to an end, the blue figure of a white-tailed skimmer dragonfly appeared on a large rock beside the pond in a perfect spot to catch the sun. Could it be the offspring of the skimmer who in the summer of the previous year came back again and again to kiss the arc of water produced by the spray from the hose? United in the shape of a distorted heart, the blue-and-yellow male and female had flown from branch to branch among the trees. Could this be their child, now emerged from its pupa?

Scout, the cat who lives at our house.

    The male skimmer I'd become friends with had vanished by the end of August. For a while I regretted the disappearance of my winged friend and his wife from the garden, which had now also been left behind by the old man and the old woman. But I felt as if that same skimmer had been brought back to life along with the bright light of summer. Then--between the effacement of death and this birth that was in a sense a kind of rebirth--I found vividly recalled to me those who had left and would never return."

The Guest Cat won Japan's Kiyama Shohei award in 2002, was a bestseller in France, and the English translation made several best-of-2014 lists. I finished reading it a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still thinking about it.

Contemplative readalikes: The Fur Person (May Sarton); Glaciers (Alexis Smith); Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Annie Dillard). Also, a couple of picture books that capture somewhat of the same feeling: Once Upon a Memory (Nina Laden & Renata Liwska); House Held Up by Trees (Ted Kooser & Jon Klassen).

Mr Wuffles by David Wiesner

 Mix together Mary Norton's The Borrowers with the Toy Story movie, add a little of Shaun Tan's short story 'Eric' (from Tales from Outer Suburbia), and you will have something like David Wiesner's magical new picture book, Mr. Wuffles. Nearly wordless, and told in graphic novel format with colourful bright paintings, it is every bit as delightful as Wiesner's earlier works, such as Art & Max, Flotsam, and Tuesday.

A tiny spaceship lands in a house ruled by a cat named Mr. Wuffles. Their ship blends right in with the cat's toys, as far as the humans are concerned, but the cat is not fooled. The aliens form an alliance with the house's insect inhabitants against the dangerous cat. Three cheers for the itty bitty underdogs!

All ages.

The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles De Lint

A brave and plucky orphan girl gets turned into a cat in The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles De Lint and illustrator Charles Vess. This fantasy novel is greatly expanded from a short story by the same duo, A Circle of Cats, published about 10 years ago.

The setting appears to be the southern Appalachians in the early twentieth century. Aspects of The Cats of Tanglewood Forest brought to mind Kate Atkinson's Life After Life and Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls, but this story is suitable for much younger audiences. Beautiful full-colour artwork and liberal borrowings from the Brothers Grimm, Native American mythology and Uncle Remus tales make this a perfect family read-aloud choice.

Readalikes: The Old Country (Mordicai Gerstein); Tree Girl (T.A. Barron); and The Flint Heart (Katherine and John Paterson).

Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean

"Rin Tin Tin is that rare thing that endures when so much else rushes past." Journalist Susan Orlean spent years investigating the many stories that originated from one German Shepherd puppy that was found in France by an American soldier near the end of World War 1. From that dog and his owner, Lee Duncan, grew a dynasty in movies and then on tv that spanned four decades and made Rin Tin Tin known around the world.

Rintintin and Nenette dolls

Lee Duncan kept two puppies he found in a bombed kennel: a male and a female. He named them Rin Tin Tin and Nenette, after a couple of French good-luck charm dolls. Duncan wore a pair of these tiny woollen dolls around his neck. My own dog happens to be named Nenette, but I had never heard of these dolls before Orlean's book. (Nenette is named for a pet goose I knew in central France - even though my girl has a much sweeter temperament.)

Orlean's research covers such topics as the origin of the German Shepherd breed, the use of canine corps in wartime and the rise in popularity of obedience training in the U.S.A. Early movies, the advent of sound and colour and some of the personalities of the film industry are also covered. It would not have occurred to me that in silent films, a dog's inability to speak is not a handicap, and so, from the beginning, Rin Tin Tin was considered a star in his own right.

I listened to a Simon Schuster audiobook (12.5 hours) read by the author. Orlean did a better job than Jennifer Jay Myers, who narrated Orlean's The Orchid Thief, but I found my interest waned at times while listening to Rin Tin Tin, depending on the topic being explored. The Orchid Thief, on the other hand, held my attention throughout. What I liked best about Rin Tin Tin was that the central theme has to do with the importance of stories in our lives. I also enjoyed the personal perspective Orlean brought into her research near the end, as she examined her own involvement in the subject.

My darling Nenette

"I had wanted [...] some proof that everything, in its way, mattered. That working hard mattered. That feeling things mattered. That even sadness and loss mattered because it was all part of something that would live on. But, I had also come to recognize that not everything needed to be so durable. The lesson we have yet to learn from dogs, that could sustain us, is that having no apprehension of the past or future is not limiting, but liberating. Rin Tin Tin did not need to be remembered in order to be happy."

Christian, the Hugging Lion by Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell and Amy June Bates

This picture book is based on a true story and it rather horrifies me to learn that in 1969, a three-month-old lion cub was for sale in the exotic pet department at Harrods in London. A gay couple, Ace and John, bought the lion, called it Christian, and kept it in their apartment for a year, then brought it to a place in Kenya where it was rehabilitated successfully into the wild. The men missed him and returned to see him a couple of times.

Lions are the most social of all cats. The special thing that Christian used to do was to hug people, and he even did this when Ace and John visited him in Africa. Kinda cool to see it captured on video: http://youtu.be/TVeP4Jb1wsU . (I suggest muting the obnoxious music.)

Authors Richardson and Parnell also wrote And Tango Makes Three, which is a fabulous book. Christian, the Hugging Lion is aimed at the same preschool to Grade 2 audience, but it begs for additional discussion about the ethics of wild animals kept as pets.

Keeper by Kathi Appelt

Listening to crabs is what got 10-year-old Keeper into a whole lot of trouble. Besides Keeper, only three other people live on Oyster Ridge Road on the Texas seacoast. Signe has looked after Keeper since Keeper's mother left 7 years earlier. Dogie lives in a yellow school bus which is also a surfboard shop. Elderly Mr. Beauchamp sits on his porch, carving driftwood and telling Keeper stories about merfolk from his days as a sailor. After listening to the crabs, who told her that they didn't want to be made into gumbo, all three of the grown-ups in her world are angry with Keeper. The only thing to do is to set to sea in search of her mermaid mother. Will Yemaya, goddess of the sea, answer Keeper's prayers?

The story has a timeless feel; contemporary and yet touched by the magic of fables. It is told in very short chapters and in the rhythms of oral tales. The animal characters (two dogs, a cat and a seagull) are given nearly as much depth and personality as the humans.

I had heard that this book has gay content; it does, but you have to be patient. Henri Beauchamp's backstory is not introduced until more than halfway through the book. When he was 15, he fell in love with another boy in France. Before Henri boarded a ship headed for Texas, Jack gave him a porte-bonheur. This talisman - lost and found - not only brings Henri happiness in his old age, but also is instrumental to the success of Keeper's quest. The theme of chosen family is also important.

For readers in Grade 3 and up. It would work well as a family read-aloud. The nonsense words borrowed from Jabberwocky may inspire a re-reading of Lewis Carroll's poem. Readalike: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, for another spirited girl who loves the natural world and is raised by a woman who is not her biological mother.

Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates

In a whimsical picture book that celebrates the joy of reading, we meet a dog who loves books so much that he opens a bookstore. It's not a good business decision - customers are few - but Dog is not daunted for long. He loses himself in books until he has the opportunity to suggest reading material to his first customer, a little girl.

Dog's body language is wondrously expressive. Children too young to read will be able follow the story through Yates' charming watercolour illustrations alone. Preschool to Grade 2.

Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson and Timothy Basil Ering

Timothy Basil Ering (Finn Throws a Fit) has painted lovely illustrations for this long, free verse picture book about a dog who is separated from his master, a solitary monk named Abba Jacob. The setting is the tropical Mascarene islands, off the southeast coast of Africa. Snook, an adorable rat terrier, must survive alone on the tiny island of Avocaire while waiting for Abba Jacob to return.

I enjoyed Marilyn Nelson's poetic descriptions of the astounding variety of wildlife on Avocaire, especially the seabirds: "fluffy chicks / sitting dumbfounded, / like a field of white teddy bears." The fairy terns "with little fishes dangling from their beaks / like handlebar mustaches." Too often, however, the prose seemed leaden when I wanted it to sing.

The story has four parts, or chapter breaks, indicated with the starting letter decorated something like those in an ancient illustrated manuscript. The third chapter, however, seems to be broken in the wrong place, two page-spreads too late.

In picture books, the illustrations should not contradict the prose unless it is for a special effect. I didn't like that the door to the chapel is open in the image of Abba Jacob praying, when in the text he closed the door. Abba Jacob is wearing a swathed tunic in all of the images, giving a timeless feel to his existence, but the text tells us that he wears a shirt and trousers, pulling a tunic over them when he goes to town. I love the illustrations so much that I resent Nelson's prose for contradicting them, although I recognize that this is unreasonable on my part, since the text was most likely created first. I would like to know more about the collaboration between this author and artist, because I'm puzzled by these flaws.

Preschool to Grade 3.

Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov; illustrated by Gennady Spirin

Since I panned Tolstoy in my last post, I thought I would write about a Russian story I really liked. The best picture books have strong text AND strong art, the two elements creating an even better whole. This is the case with Kashtanka in the Gulliver Books edition illustrated by Gennady Spirin. Spirin's lush colours and rich details are a sensual delight. The watercolour paintings brought me right into the historical setting. Chekhov's story about a lost dog who is taken in by a circus clown has a gentle poignancy. The death in Kashtanka is that of a white goose named Ivan Ivanovich, and he is more genuinely missed than Ivan Ilych. A great book to share with children from preschool age up.

There Are Cats in this Book by Viviane Schwarz

A lift-the-flap book with three playful cats... yay! This picture book from British author/illustrator Viviane Schwarz has some similarities to Melanie Watt's Chester books - the watercolour cats; the tongue-in-cheek humour playing with book as artifact - and it will certainly appeal to Watt's fans, but the best thing is that it is great for very young children. The bright primary colours, simple lines and comic-style word balloons work well together. And then there are the flaps and the partly-cut pages revealing details from the page beyond. It is delightful!

The cats are first uncovered by lifting a blanket-flap. Then, one by one, they wake as their individual flaps are lifted. "Hello. Who are YOU?" asks red Tiny. "Are you NICE?" asks blue Moonpie. "You LOOK nice," says yellow Andre, adding when his flap is turned "and STRONG. Could you turn a whole PAGE?."

I love the way the cats tell young readers exactly what to do. ("There's MORE! Quick, turn another page!") My favourite part is where two cats want to go back. "Let's go back to the yarn!" says Tiny. "Yes. Turn the page back!" says Andre. But Moonpie says, "NO! Keep going THIS way. LOOK! There are CARDBOARD BOXES!" He is pointing to the cut-out bottom right corner of the righthand page, where part of a box can be seen.

At the end, the cats are put to bed ("Night-night") and covered with another blanket-flap. The text on the final endpaper reads, "Did you like the cats? I think they really liked you." I liked this book very much and kids from babyhood upward will too.

Cats' Night Out by Caroline Stutson and J. Klassen

Kids being put to bed probably already suspected that all the fun happens after dark. This suspicion is confirmed by John Burningham's It's a Secret and Caroline Stutson's Cats' Night Out. Nighttime is party time for hip cats.

Counting by twos in danceable rhyming verse, Cats' Night Out has an irresistible beat. J. Klassen's atmospheric illustrations in greys and browns show pairs of kitties kicking up their heels to a city backdrop. Each boogie, tango, tap dance, twist, fox-trot and polka comes with two more cats and a costume change, but their eyes remain closed in bliss or concentration until people yell from their windows for quiet. The cats' eyes snap open and they make their way home... until the dancing starts again on the following night.

More sophisticated than most counting books, I would give this to city kids in Grade 1 to 3.

Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn

Chet - a dog with mismatched ears who failed to graduate from K-9 school - is Bernie Little's partner in a struggling private detective agency in Nevada. They are hired to find a missing teenager, but she shows up on her own. A few days later, she disappears again. Chet and Bernie are back on the case. This time, everything gets much more complicated.

Chet narrates the events and I found his voice rather annoying for the first while. All that barking... just kidding. He addresses the reader in short, often incomplete, sentences. (Hard-boiled detective style; just the facts, ma'm. Except that Chet's facts do tend to meander: "Snake. I don't like snakes.") What I found tedious are sentences like this: "They get upset, humans, and then water comes out of their eyes. What is that all about?" But then, I got caught up in the storyline and decided I really liked Chet and forgave him for being a dog.

Other people have said they laughed out loud while reading this book. I smiled a lot. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, a mystery solved by a herd of sheep, has something of the same appeal.

It's a Secret! by John Burningham

It's no secret that British author/illustrator John Burningham is a genius. His latest picture book, It's a Secret! is a whimsical answer to where the cat goes every night. Enjoy! Pre-school-adult.

Dick Whittington and His Cat by Marcia Brown

Dick is a penniless orphan who grows up to be mayor of London. He gets rich thanks to a cat who is a champion mouser. Marcia Brown's retelling of this legend was first published in 1950. Her striking linocut illustrations stand the test of time, but her colonialist attitude does not. I found her portrayal of the Moors of Barbary offensive and would not recommend this book for children.