Merry ­Mittens: A Moontime Cats Christmas Story

K-Gr 5–A sweetly humorous tale of three cat friends exploring the outdoors on a snowy ­December evening. Carl, Biscuit, and Peewee are curious and playful. They tussle after Carl shoves a snowbank onto Peewee when she tries to taste a fluffy snowflake. ­Discovering a sneaky mouse with “a stash of loot,” including the town’s Christmas tree gold star, the three friends restore it to the tree and meet a new cat in need of a home. Text is clean, ­using gradation and punctuation for emphasis when reading. Literary devices such as ­alliteration in “baubles beckon” and onomatopoeia in “jingle, jangle, smash” ­encourage early literacy and add fantastic audible cues. Colored pencil and watercolor soften the full-bleed spreads, enhancing each character with charm and originality. Through humor, the realization that not ­everyone has a place to call home comes as a gentle reminder to ­children to be kind ­toward others—an idea that shines outside of the holiday season.