A Castle Full of Cats

July 1, 2015
A queen fills her lavish Versailles-like palace with cats; the king is not a cat person. Attempts to win his love just make matters worse. In a snit, the king brings home an enormous dog--that the cats claim as one of their own. Painterly, detailed illustrations with cats everywhere (including in the dicor) are slightly stiff, but they accentuate the rhyming text's tongue-in-cheek humor.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

October 15, 2014
Wouldn't anyone be happy with a castle full of cats? "Once there was a queen / who kept a castle full of cats. / She loved the pretty ones and the plain ones, / the sweet ones and the brats." She pampers them with abandon; everyone has fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The cats are confident in her love, but they want to win the king's, too. "They tried their best to please him / in oh-so-clever ways, / and left him charming little gifts / to brighten up his days." (These gifts include a mouse in his shoe). They warm his chair in the morning and try to satisfy his love of music and art (with serenades at the piano and claw paintings on the walls). When he becomes upset, the queen just tells him they are only being cats. When he's had enough, he storms off and returns with his idea of the perfect pet: a drooling bull mastiff! Could this be the end of kitty cat fun and games? Not quite...the cats love the present he's brought them. Sanderson's 18th-century king and queen and their adoring brood of pussycats come to life in each detailed, double-page spread watercolor. The palatial rooms and rococo decor will entrance readers, and the purring masses of cats offer plenty of humor for repeat readings Charming, expressive and surprising. (Picture book. 3-7)

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