Gulliver

Quack-Quack's creator returns with another reassuring look at separations and reunions, this time through the eyes of a kitten with wanderlust. Gulliver's family is on a car trip and pulls over to rest. That's when Gulliver, a gray cat, spies a robin and, with decidedly shifty motives, approaches it. When the family drives away without him, Gulliver lives through a night of terror: he is nearly run down by a car, goes without his supper and misses his owner's kindness. Readers will find cautionary elements in this tale; among the scenes of him poking around, Gulliver faces some genuine frights. That he does make his way safely back to his owners will assuage the worries of children; because most spreads allow readers to look ahead in the story (and see Gulliver safely through each ordeal), any dread is instantly soothed away. The kitten's-eye view of the countryside is refreshingly feline and quite childlike as well. Ages 3-up. (May)