CrossCountry Cat

by Mary Calhoun; illustrated by Erick Ingraham



Initial impressions can be misleading, as both Henry the cat and I found out.



At first this book struck me as a little chilly, because the text is terse and the illustrations are rather sparingly tinted.  Also, snow is wet and deep, and cats can't ski.


Or can they?


It turns out the text is well-worded, poetic almost, with wonderful characterization of actions.  The author clearly is a skier herself, and she captures the awkward beginning "step-step-teeter," the successful "glide and slide" of skis over snow, and the satisfaction of a "loose and breezy" descent.  She's equally good with the affectionate attentions of a cat or the distinctive flight of a blue jay.

And the illustrations are actually as rich as the wording is spartan.  They're drawn with careful detail (I could swear the ski boots on the first page are the exact pair my dad used to wear).        At the same time they're capable of  big sensations, like the vastness of a lonely winter landscape and the smothering closeness of a snow-laden woods.




The story is, of course, impossible.  Cats can't ski.  But people can, and those who do will enjoy sharing this book - and, one would hope, the experience - with the children in their lives, as I do with mine.