cover image Visitor

Visitor

Patrice Aggs. Scholastic, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-531-30059-6

In the first book she has both written and illustrated, Aggs's (illus. of The Sleepy Book; Why Count Sheep?) sweetly appealing kitten characters overcome their anxiety about a strange visitor. Mrs. Redcat tells Posy and Cosy that Giraffe is coming for dinner, so they survey their neighborhood friends to discover what a giraffe looks like. When their next-door neighbor tells them a giraffe is an animal, they picture a mouse. Their friend Mouse tells them it has a long neck like Goose, so they picture a mouse with a goose neck; Goose tells them a giraffe has spots like a ladybug, which Cosy and Posy superimpose onto a mouse's body, and so on. The creature they invent is far more frightening than the one who has been invited and, predictably, in the end the pair agrees that having a giraffe to dinner ""turned out to be fun."" The spot illustrations successfully depict the friendly rapport among the characters. These vignettes, which have a casual, free feeling, suit the concept-driven text better than the full-page compositions on each spread; framed pristinely in a white border, these often seem like decorative ornaments, and hinder the final progression of scenes of growing warmth between the kittens and their dinner guest. Nonetheless, Cosy and Posy themselves are expressive charmers, and Aggs's understanding of a preschooler's fears are right on target. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)