cover image We Are the Cat: Life Through the Eyes of the Royal Feline

We Are the Cat: Life Through the Eyes of the Royal Feline

Terry Bain, . . Harmony, $16 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-307-33918-8

Bain (You Are a Dog: Life through the Eyes of Man's Best Friend ) animates the interior world of the average house cat by having a cat (identified only by the royal "we") describe its life, pleasures and habits. It lives with "Laps"(i.e., people), in this particular case, two parents and a boy and girl, known respectively as Scratch, Mom, Fly and Kittengirl. Along with the cloying cuteness comes information that cat owners don't need a book to tell them: for instance, that cats love to drink from a running faucet, that "daytime is the perfect time of day to sleep." From the overly simplistic, the writing can veer to ridiculous attempts at the sublime: the purr "is the sound of the universe. The universe may be said to purr, and when we purr, we are in harmonious synchronization with the universe." This book could work for older children and young adults; most grown-ups will find it as unsophisticated as a true cat fancier finds—dare we say it?—a dog. 20 line drawings. (Aug. 29)