Niblet & Ralph

Dilla lives with his cat Niblet. Gemma lives with her cat Ralph. The kids don't know each other, but the cats do; they meow to each other as they sit in their windows. When both apartment doors stand open one day, an unplanned cat exchange ensues. The cats are almost-identical calicos, but Gemma and Dilla quickly spot the interlopers. "This is not Niblet!" Dilla shouts when the cat refuses chips. The girls' parents pooh-pooh their doubts, so Gemma and Dilla take matters into their own hands, solving the mystery and making friends at the same time. Ohora (The Not So Quiet Library) is in top form, particularly in scenes depicting the two cat owners' anxious thoughts as they lie sleepless, one on the left-hand page, one on the right, trying to work out what's happened. Evil crows might have lifted Ralph into the sky! Aliens might have beamed Niblet up to their spaceship! There's a gratifying whiff of healthy skepticism thrown in as Gemma and Dilla believe the evidence and not their parents. Ages 4-8. Agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency. (June)

PreS-Gr 2--Niblet and Ralph are cat friends that live in the same building, unbeknownst to their owners, Dilla and Gemma. They also happen to look remarkably alike, so when the felines decide to visit one another on the same day, they effectively trade places, again without the children's knowledge. They each decide to wait for the other's return, which is where they are discovered by the unsuspecting boy and girl, both quick to realize that something is amiss. Not Niblet suddenly spurns Gemma's hugs and hates his favorite song, and Fake Ralph ignores his favorite toy and treat. While the adults laugh at the youngsters' suspicions, Gemma and Dilla turn detective to solve the mystery of the fraudulent cats. All's well that ends well when the pets are restored to their respective homes and new friendships bloom. The bold acrylic illustrations adeptly capture city apartment life and feature whimsical details such as the cats chatting on old school land lines or their owners' preposterous imaginings to explain their disappearances. VERDICT Readers will delight in this entertaining story and its happy resolution. A great read-aloud for a broad audience.--Barbara Auerbach, formerly at New York City Public Schools