Angus and the Cat

Angus and the Cat
Marjorie Flack ~ Doubleday, 1931

Ms. Flack's books always impress from the start, if for no other reason than the fonts always rock. Her use of soft, primary colors. Her dark lines and familiar but tense situations. I think all of her books are divine, and although The Story About Ping will probably go down as my son's all time favorite children's book (for bird-related reasons), he just might think Angus is a whole lot funnier. One in a short series of books that follow the exploits of a frisky Scottish terrier, here we find him pitted against a neighborhood feline in a friendly game of catch that cat.Now as Angus grew older and longer he learned MANY THINGS. He learned it is best to stay in one's own yard and FROGS can jump but NOT to jump after them and BALLOONS go POP! Angus also learned NOT to lie on the sofa and NOT to take SOMEONE ELSE'S food and things like that. But there was SOMETHING outdoors Angus was very curious about but had NEVER learned about, and that was CATS. The leash was too SHORT.

Oh, Angus learns alright and as the book progresses and the cat continues to elude, the story is a series of just-missed-him funny situations that bring my son to his knees in peals of laughter. The tale is spectacularly well-written, and the language isn't the least bit dated (which explains why it's been in print all these years). That black dog is a charmer, big time. If anyone has an extra copy of Angus and the Ducks sitting around, please send it my way and maybe we can bump this puppy up to Number 1 status in the boy's heart of hearts. A little quack, quack will surely put him over the line.

Also by:
The Country Bunny
Tim Tadpole and the Great Bullfrog
The Story About Ping