cover image Have You Got My Purr?

Have You Got My Purr?

Judy West. Dutton Books, $15.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-525-46390-0

A calico kitten thinks she has lost her purr and polls her fellow barnyard inhabitants to see who might have it. As her day draws to a close, she's made two discoveries: while none of her animal friends purr, they make their own interesting sounds; and her purr--""the most perfect purr"" her friends have ever heard--comes back as soon as she happily snuggles next to her mother. The straightforward text, peppered with lots of animal noises and cartoonish renderings of the farm denizens, might serve as a useful introduction to the barnyard. But British author West and Warnes (I Don't Want to Go to Bed!) don't offer up any surprises, and none of the animals exhibit particularly distinctive personalities, visually or verbally. Ages 2-7. (May)