The Perfect Cat-Sitter (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Perfect Cat-Sitter Jeannette Hulick Nagda, Ann Whitehead The Perfect Cat-Sitter; illus. by Stephanie Roth. Holiday House, 2007104p ISBN 978-0-8234-2112-1$15.95 Ad Gr. 2-4 When grade-schooler Rana and her family must suddenly fly to India right before Christmas, her buddy Susan is thrilled to take on the job as pet-sitter for the family's cat and fish. Unfortunately for perfectionist Susan, the job is somewhat trickier than she envisions, and it is further complicated by the recurring appearance in Rana's yard of a deer with Christmas lights entangled in his antlers. As she goes about her pet-sitting duties, Susan also completes a school project based on Rana's trip and learns to get along with a difficult classmate. Young readers new to chapter books will find the writing very accessible, but this isn't as strong as Nagda's other adventures featuring this same group of kids. The characters' dialogue is sometimes stilted ("I will spend at least an hour a day at your house, keeping the cat company," said Susan. "Otherwise, Tiger could get very lonely"), the classroom scenes seem intended to instruct readers more than advance the plot ("'I thought lions were only in Africa,' said Richard. 'India has the only lions left in Asia,' said Susan"), and the troubles with the various animals (e.g., Tiger throws up on the carpet, the deer gets into the birdseed) are fairly humdrum (though the cat does take a brief spin in the dryer at one point). Frequent black-and-white pencil and wash drawings of pleasant-looking people and animals add warmth and interest to the rather bland story, however, and young readers may well relate to Susan's struggles with her less-than-perfect achievements. Just as Susan finally accepts the job she has done, readers may also decide that a story that is "pretty good" is "good enough." Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois