Squash, the cat

PreS-Gr 1--Mayer's new book is an ode to the journey of friendship, including the bumps, bruises, and bandages acquired along the way. Squash is an adorable squash-shaped orange cat readers will love. Maggie is a warmhearted, fun-loving child who adores her best-friend-cat. They are perfect together, until tragedy strikes, and Squash destroys Maggie's new gift. There are times that feelings are so big, children do not know how to deal with them. Mayer beautifully illustrates one coping strategy: giving each other time. This is a great lesson to learn and is presented in a fun, clever, child-friendly way. Mayer's illustrations perfectly depict the range of emotions faced by Maggie and Squash. VERDICT Worth the purchase to have on hand for families needing materials depicting lessons on friendship and those who just love a gratifying story about two best friends.--Cassie Veselovsky

Squash the cat and his owner, a little girl named Maggie, are BFFs until Squash commits a big blunder. While Maggie, a light-skinned child with a head of tousled reddish curls, is a bit more exuberant than nap-loving Squash, the two are nevertheless "perfect-for-each-other best friends." Each day they share a wonderful breakfast (Squash knocks a box of doughnuts off the top of the fridge, with Maggie waiting below to catch them), and Squash puts an end to Maggie's boring music lesson by coughing up a hairball on the minuet, to the music teacher's horror. The giggles will only increase--along with some apprehension--when Squash mistakes Maggie's new toy tunnel for a big snake about to devour the girl…and acts accordingly. With the tunnel now slashed to ribbons, Maggie is furious, and Squash is "a can't-eat, can't-sleep…can't-face-his-Maggie kind of cat." After several funny but sad pages depicting Squash's reaction to Maggie's anger, the narrator gently asserts that friendship is not perfect, and in a satisfying conclusion, the two literally and figuratively mend their rift. The colorful, sketchy, cartoonish art complements and extends the delightfully playful text that's full of alliteration and understatement as well as engaging strings of hyphenated words that describe the protagonists. This tale would make an excellent read-aloud in small groups so that little ones can pick out details in the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Funny, clever, and heartwarming. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.