Cat, Mouse and Moon

``It is night and Cat is out. Moon is in the sky, and in Cat's eye, and on the rippling surface of the lake.'' Sentence by carefully wrought sentence, the suspense builds as Cat hunts down Mouse and almost bags himself a tasty midnight snack. Hillenbrand's (Traveling to Tondo) smudged watercolors in soft shades of gray and purple, highlighted with flashes of the moon's yellow, capture the still beauty and danger of night. Cat, a marauding feline, is at daybreak transformed into a docile lapcat. While first-time author Powell establishes the mood of the story, the narrative drive is not altogether palpable-the prose takes itself a little too seriously. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)