Cantsee: The Cat Who Was the Color of the Carpet

A chameleonlike kitten causes confusion in a story that overflows with whimsy-and with words. Shopkeeper Mr. Blue, who finds homes for kittens each holiday season, faces a dilemma: a cat has gone unclaimed because it blends into any surroundings, from a houseplant to ""a patch of paisley in the rug."" Mr. Blue takes this peculiar straggler into his sumptuous Victorian home and, for obvious reasons, dubs it Cantsee. He plans to give Cantsee to a friend ""who live[s] in an uncluttered modern house,"" but the cat has other ideas; Cantsee adores Mr. Blue, and proves his loyalty by emerging from a Turkish rug in time to foil a burglary. Schields (The Moon Lady) tends to state and restate the obvious: ""A vanishing cat! A cat the color of the carpet. A cat I can't see!... But where can he be hiding?"" Ladling out unrestrained blocks of text, the author/artist embellishes her story with lists as grand as the ""ormolu clocks, Chinese locks, silver salvers and strings of pearls, chandeliers and bandoliers and lavalieres"" in Mr. Blue's abode. Such verbal distractions, given the flamboyant pink- and green- and yellow-patterned furnishings, echo the setting at first, but quickly become overwhelming. Cantsee, whose delicate outline lurks amid the variegated decor, is lost in the black-and-white print. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)