Bruno: Some of the More Interesting Days of My Life So Far

Illustrated with jaunty, Tintin-style drawings, Valckx’s hero, a cat named Bruno, recounts days in which the fantastic and the ordinary collide. With his pal Ringo, an aging horse, and other animal friends, Bruno discusses “a peculiar day” (during which a fish named Bup appears beside him as he walks down the street), “a stupid day” (during which he almost gets run down by a carful of wild boars), “an almost perfect day” (during which he and his friends ride up and down the train station escalators to their heart’s content), and more. Bruno, a sort of Holden Caulfield of the animal world, nurses silent resentments: “I didn’t feel much like staying at Ringo’s,” he says, after a disappointing picnic. “That glutton had already eaten practically everything anyway.” Yet his powers of observation also make him sensitive to the needs of others: “The fish was trembling all over, poor little thing.” Readers will note right away that even Bruno’s normal circumstances are pretty wacky (why are those boars driving that car?); it’s these casual ventures into the surreal that give Valckx’s story its charm. Ages 4–10. (Apr.)