Mr. Cat and the Little Girl

Yuwei flips human and feline timelines through the melancholic and contemplative story of a painter named Mr. Cat and the small sprite of a girl he finds beneath a leaf and takes home as autumn gives way to winter. A solitary gray feline, Mr. Cat isn’t used to having a houseguest (“Get off my TAIL!”), but before long the girl—whose touch magically causes plants to grow—becomes a source of artistic inspiration, and the muted winter scenes gradually fill with color as friendship blossoms. Though the pair’s time together is brief (“Lifetime... one winter,” the encyclopedia reads), she leaves Mr. Cat with joyful memories of their ephemeral friendship. This quiet story about loss and the fleeting, seasonal nature of life may be too opaque for younger readers, but the careful, softly shaded illustrations are gently luminous. Ages 5–up. [em](Oct.) [/em]