Puss in Boots

Lush illustrations will draw readers into this gently funny adaptation of Perrault’s story, part of the publisher’s World Classics series, about the youngest of three sons lucking his way into a wife and a castle. Kim pictures the son’s inherited cat as a gray tabby with ornate red boots, shrewd facial expressions, and claws that mean business (when the cat threatens to bite and scratch field workers if they don’t tell the king who they work for, there’s little doubt he’ll make good on the threat). There’s a hint of Bruegel to Kim’s rural landscapes, as well as some understated humor—the supposedly fierce giant who owns the fields and castle the cat steals is first seen reclining lazily on a carpet, smoking a hookah. Simultaneously available: Rapunzel, The Wolf and the Seven Kids, Thumbelina, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)