The Cat Who Came in from the Cold

Longden was never a cat-lover, but a rain-soaked white kitten in his neighbor's yard changed all that. He and his wife, English novelist Aileen Armitage, adopted the stray and named him Thermal after he nearly froze in their refrigerator. In this heartwarming, genial account, which is flecked with puckish humor and endearingly illustrated with line drawings, the British radio broadcaster recounts the misadventures of a high-energy cat who eats peanut butter, cavorts with dachshunds, shreds envelopes while sitting in a wastebasket and stays away from home for a full month. Longden's cheerfully busy household expands when a second adoptee, Tigger, turns the cellar into a halfway house for roving neighborhood cats. As Thermal changes from an ankle-rubbing sycophant to a toilet-roll-spinning terror, it's touching to watch Longden's affection for and understanding of his furry soulmate continually deepen. (Oct.)