Cat Nap

Gr 1-3–A mouse disappears into a poster advertising New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Will Kitten take up the chase? “Of course he will,” writes Caldecott Honoree Lies, sending the pair pelting through art works from multiple eras and cultures. Rather than altering digital images of the originals for illustrations, though, the artist has taken on the far greater challenge of making his own reproductions by hand, in the same styles and even using many of the same materials. He succeeds brilliantly, as the merry scamper wreaks havoc in an ancient Egyptian wall scene sandwiched between lines of hieroglyphics; leads to encounters with a wise Japanese tortoise and a friendly—if scary—looking Pre-Columbian dog, as well as fanciful figures in the margins of an elaborately illuminated manuscript; goes through a Georgia O’Keeffe thunderstorm; and more. Better yet, along with thumbnails of the museum pieces for comparison, the artist closes with process notes coupled to workshop photos ranging from models in clay and in laminated wood to a gold leaf outline for a painted saint, and that Egyptian doorway being carved out of plaster with dental tools. The brisk pursuit ends back in the comfy living room where it began, and though the mouse escapes (sharp-eyed viewers might spot it in the next to last scene), there’s a dinner bowl waiting. “Is Kitten happy? Yes! Of course he is.”