The Secret Life of Walter Kitty

April 23, 2007
D
espite a promising title and endpapers picturing a chameleonic hero, this cat tale fails to deliver on its allusion to James Thurber’s short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Walter Kitty looks and acts like an ordinary cinnamon cat in a suburban home. He hangs out in the front-yard tree, digs in loose garden dirt and climbs uninvited onto people’s laps and the supper table. When his owner, Mrs. Biddle, calls him “Wally,” “Kitten” and “Baby,” he shows up—particularly if treats and catnip are involved. All the while, he quietly maintains, “my real name is Fang.” In his daydreams—too few and far between here—Walter becomes a pouncing tiger, a pirate (“Captain Fang”), and a fearless archaeologist on the Indiana Jones model. Using ink, acrylic and digital media, Santat (The Guild of Geniuses
) pictures Walter grinning like the Cheshire Cat with steel-trap jaws; he sketches the feline as an astronaut, firefighter and top-hatted gentleman, and juxtaposes these energetic caricatures with prosaic images of Walter grooming or tracking mud across the linoleum. Yet the narrative does not expand on the cat’s active imagination. Hicks (Jitterbug Jam
) instead focuses on Walter’s household behavior: “I don’t know what Mrs. Biddle would do without me,” the cat muses, licking plates clean and dusting the floor by sliding on it. Whereas Thurber’s version satirizes middle-class complacency and pent-up aggression, Walter’s tepid home life suits him fine, and his fantasy world remains undeveloped. Ages 5-8.

July 1, 2007
PreS-Gr 2-Like many a young child, Mrs. Biddle's cat, Walter, has an overactive imagination. In his dreams, he is Fang, the wild tiger who terrorizes mice; the fearless buccaneer who rescues his "Persons" (owners) from pirates; the brave adventurer who discovers ancient artifacts. Loving Mrs. Biddle calls him "Kitty," "Wally," "Snookums," and "Baby"; gives him catnip that induces him to dig wildly in Mr. Biddle's garden; and "skritch[es]" him under his chin as he dreams of himself as a small, masked superhero, cape flying as he rushes down the sidewalk. Walter's day comes vibrantly alive in Santat's full-page cartoon art done in acrylic, ink, and Photoshop. While Walter's thoughts and narration are in black type, those for the Persons and Fang appear to be hand-printed and are set in dialogue balloons. Mug shots of the feline in his many guises fill the endpapers. The combination of imaginative plot and comic-book elements is sure to capture the fancy of children caught up in the superhero craze."Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.