Fog Cat

When she moves in with her grandfather by the sea, Hannah is drawn to an elusive cat who haunts the rocky beach. Despite her grandfather's mild cautions (""She belongs to herself,"" he says), Hannah attempts to woo the fog-gray feline by leaving fish scraps on a plate. After some experimental menus, Fog Cat eventually joins Hannah in the house. Replete with seaside analogies (the sound of Fog Cat wailing is ""as sad and lonely as the foghorn of a ship lost at sea""; Hannah's eyes grow ""as round as sand dollars""), Helmer's (The Boy, the Dollar and the Wonderful Hat) lengthy text combines predictability with emotional turns. Hannah's hopes are dashed when Fog Cat gives birth to two stillborn kittens; then a third is discovered, alive. As the kitten gains strength, however, Fog Cat herself runs off, never to be seen again. While evoking the rusticity and diffused light of coastal fishing villages, Mombourquette's (Emma and the Silk Train) watercolor and ink illustrations are a little stiff, especially in portraits of Hannah and her grandfather. A fresher and more fluid interpretation of the same plot can be found in George Ella Lyon and Paul Brett Johnson's A Traveling Cat. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)