In this jaunty debut picture book, a cool cat gets cold paws about his big piano concert, and hits the street to find the beat. Just before show time, Hepcat is besieged by jitters. ("I'm so nervous. I've lost my groove!") When he hears music coming from beneath the floorboards of the concert stage, the feline investigates and discovers four beetles—who resemble the Beatles and employ their lyrics—and sagely tell him, "Music is every
where." A search that includes stops at the city's avenues and alleys as well as a pond, treetop and bell tower fills Hepcat with much-needed aural inspiration. Bramhall's text bounces along at a fun-to-read clip that will hook younger readers, while adults will appreciate the visual and verbal homages to the works of such music legends as Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Bramhall, a newspaper cartoonist, composes energetic pen-and-inks of the aforementioned stars and creates a memorably thin Hepcat sporting the requisite hep black turtleneck and beret. An emphasis on black-and-white—à la the beat-era wardrobe, sheet music, piano keys—works to great effect. What this book does best is convey the message that music can be found wherever the imagination alights. Ages 3-up. (June)
