What Cats Think

Are cats capable of poetry? They are in this volume, which imagines their interior lives through 20 short poems, some more predictable than others. In “Dream,” a serene gray puss blends into its lavender-gray backdrop, musing “I close my eyes and dream.../ Of saucers filled with steamy milk./ Rivers of creamy moo-cow juice.” A page later, “Angry” somewhat features an aggressively scribbled black cat arching its back upon discovering “You threw away my scratching post!” Color pours off each page in van Hout’s vibrant, bold illustrations—a mix of acrylic ink, oil pastels, and gouache. His felines expressively embody Spray’s emphatic free verse, which authentically gives voice to cats’ changeable emotions. Ages 6–10. (Oct.)