Where's That Cat?

Completed by Merriam's (Ten Rosy Roses) editor Pollack after Merriam's death, this bouncy picture book finds a feline leading her young owner on a merry chase. ""Jitterbugs, Jitterbugs glides out the door,/ onto the road--he's far away,/ looking for a place to play."" The rhyming text follows the escapades of cat and girl and pulls readers along by the momentum of the chase as well as a series of riddles as to the pet's whereabouts. ""What's white and runs along the grass?"" is answered by a turn of the page: ""Jitterbugs, Jitterbugs climbs up the fence."" The closing lines bring readers back to the beginning: ""Where's the very best place you can be?"" The answer: ""Back home,"" where there are ""hugs to share"" and ""purring, purring everywhere."" Harrison's uncluttered, crisp watercolors generate a sense of activity by alternating cropped panels with larger views as the two venture into the wide world. She also extends the guessing game with visual clues--a glimpse of a tail or a pair of paws--that help solve the riddles. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)