Switch Cat - Hardcover

Disher, Garry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395716438 ISBN 13: 9780395716434

Publisher: Ticknor & Fields, 1995

Synopsis

Two young girls, next-door neighbors, find themselves hopelessly mismatched with their own pets and completely compatible with each other's cats, but their parents will not allow them to switch animals.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 3?An endearing narrator introduces herself, "scabby knees,/a voice that squeaks,/handwriting like a puddled street," and her black cat, Evangelina, "supple,/proud,/satiny,/sleek." Graceful Ev prefers the company of next-door neighbor Cecilia, with her "swanlike" stance and spotless room, while Cecilia's cat, Ms. Whiz, "Scruffy,/torn,/fishbreathy,/ mean," seeks the disheveled but comfortable lap of the narrator. Despite parents who insist the pets return to their "proper" houses at night, the girls and the cats all know who really belongs to whom. When Cecilia's family moves, the result is four broken hearts. Leave it to scrappy Whiz to find a solution that makes for a happy ending. Disher's simple, sometimes rhyming verse evokes strong images; carefully placed adjectives deftly paint a mood, or capture a character. Creative word pairings are unexpected and expressive: the narrator is "smack-door'd awake" and "Whiz-tangled" by her favorite feline. The colored-pencil, watercolor, and gouache artwork provides a good balance for the text. The narrator, with her mismatched socks, untamed hair, and cluttered room, is drawn with looser lines and deeper colors, while gracefully posed Cecilia is depicted by neatly drawn pastels. A surefire selection for anyone who has ever been owned by a cat.?Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

The heroine of this story may not be terribly soignee, but she's found a soulmate in her oh-so-tidy neighbor Cecilia's scruffy cat, Ms. Whiz. Truth is, her own cat, the finicky Evangelina, prefers the perfect Cecilia. Though the girls are willing to trade pets, their parents refuse to cooperate, until Cecilia's family moves away and Whiz takes matters in her own hands-er, paws. Disher's (The Bamboo Flute) verse has a natty, asymmetrical allure (his take on Cecilia: "Swanlike in her dancing shoes,/ expert on the computer;/ well informed about the news,/ no apple cores, no clutter") that makes for a jaunty read-aloud, and McLean's (Dog Tales, reviewed above) softly shaded colored-pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are especially effective in depicting the frisky, flea-bitten charm of the irrepressible Ms. Whiz. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ticknor & Fields
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0395716438
• ISBN 13: 9780395716434
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 29
• Illustrator: McLean Andrew