Has any being ever suffered more injustice or misunderstanding than the domesticated house cat? Surely not, and nobody knows this better than Hamweenie, the star of this charming picture book from a first-time author and artist. The Amazing Hamweenie knows he is meant for great things as a world-famous magician, but his human has made his life too cushy and, thus, his escape and life of fame and fortune impossible. It is hard to see how he will escape his dreadful fate.
Whether they have a cat at home or not, children will gravitate to the woes of Hamweenie, captured in perfectly-detailed pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings, even as they identify with the girl's love for her kitty. Patty Bowman creates a series of visual vignettes of Hamweenie (being pushed in a perambulator and taking tea) with a sense of irony that even youngest readers can appreciate. --Stephanie Anderson, head of readers' advisory at Darien Library and blogger