cover image BAD CAT

BAD CAT

Tracy-Lee McGuinness-Kelly, . . Little, Brown, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-316-60584-7

Is Bad Cat, a big-city kitty of the streets, truly bad or simply misunderstood? Readers of this kinetic picture-book debut may be left wondering. When he "splotches" paint on a wall (and initially angers the wall's owner), the end result is a colorful mural that makes the owner proud. When Bad Cat drops a banana peel on the sidewalk, the two rotund people who slip on it—Sally Hillybumps and Frederick Wobblebottom—don't get hurt, they fall in love. Bad Cat squirts water at a passerby and cuts flowers, unbidden, in Mrs. Pooslop's garden. It's unclear whether the happy results are intentional, and if the ends justify the means. Where McGuinness-Kelly's story may falter, her kicky computer-generated art is the cat's meow. She creates a fluid collage style with bold colors (including fuchsia, purple and chartreuse), patterns and textures. And Bad Cat, his jet-black fur and sharp white teeth suggesting a slightly sinister Felix the Cat, adds heart to each scene. Ages 3-6. (June)