From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-This book has the look and feel of a feline version of a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie of the 1940s. One enchanted evening, a dapper cat named Red hops on the A train, an obvious nod to Duke Ellington and the era of swing music, to make the scene at a "boogie-woogie juke joint called the Alley Cat's Meow." The rhyming verse chronicles the momentous meeting of Red and Ginger. He asks her to dance, and the rest, as they say-. Their partnership sealed with a kiss, they set out to wow the world with their artistic virtuosity. On the final page, the two are pictured dancing happily in the moonlight. Sophisticated painterly images of the high-stepping couple tap dancing and jitterbugging their way through nightclubs and on stage make for an attractive and at times humorous presentation. This affectionate look back at a golden era of jazz music and an arguably more elegant time seems somewhat out of sync with a picture-book audience, and the emphasis on romance may elicit predictable groans from youngsters.
Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
PreS-K. A pair of jazz cats romance each other around the world in this handsome, nostalgic picture book. Red, a dapper tabby, meets Ginger, a "jazzy, snazzy" feline, at the Alley Cat's Meow nightclub. The cats boogie woogie across the floor, fall in love, and go on to dance together on stages across the world and even "on the silver screen." There's little story here, and the text, written in brief rhyming couplets, often feels forced. What's best are the large acrylic paintings that show the cats' wild costumes, gooey expressions of love, and, best of all, the cats' flying movement across the dance floor. This isn't a necessary purchase, but the colorful images and the story's romance may appeal to some young ones.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
