The Cat Who Came in off the Roof

This story is delightfully quirky, with touches of madcap action, and narrator Kellgren is perfectly matched to the tale. Mr. Tibble is a newspaper reporter who only writes about cats. His editor tells Tibble he needs to begin reporting some harder news to keep his job. Enter Minou, a woman who confides in Mr. Tibble that she used to be a cat. After a dog chases Minou up a tree, and Tibble helps her down, Minou begins living in Tibble’s spare room. In exchange for housing, Minou begins a “cat press agency,” enlisting local cats to feed her scoops that Tibble turns into hard-hitting articles. Cats in town overhear all kinds of things; no one ever notices if a cat is in the room while a secret meeting is going on. Kellgren sounds as though she’s having a delightful time. She gives Minou a breathless innocence. Tibble, with his nasal voice, often sounds overwhelmed, and the villains are haughty and speak with tight throats. The cats are a wonderful variety of English accents from Yorkshire to Cockney to upper-crust London. Best of all, Kellgren adds meows and hissing into the mix. The story is wonderfully gentle and silly; even parents will enjoy listening. Ages 10–up. A Delacorte hardcover. (Jan.)