Pure fun for the preschool set, Alison Murray's (One Two That's My Shoe) paper-over-board book centers on a tiara-toting, polka-dot-boot-wearing princess in pursuit of a white kitten while the adults are otherwise engaged.
The sugar-white kitten stands out against the castle's cream-colored walls and outdoor environs as it unspools the glittering pink yarn from the queen's knitting project: "[O]ff he ran, with a swish of his tail,/ leaving behind him a pink woolly trail." Murray clues in youngest detectives as she connects the path the feline has traveled and offers a glimpse around the corner to what's ahead. A blue pedestal table, for instance, spotted from the playroom, gets a twist of glittery pink, as does the butler, calmly balancing a bird cage (from which the runaway feline has inadvertently freed a pair of birds), a tea tray and himself--on one leg (the other leg, like the table's, wrapped in pink). Toddlers can trace the pink trail, slightly raised from the page, as they help Princess Penelope track down the furry interloper, sometimes in spirals, other times in angular patterns.
Murray portrays the kitten as a kind of Pied Piper, gathering not only the princess but also the family dog, the freed birds, a peacock, a squirrel and other creatures. Where was the kitten off to in such a hurry? Why, to his mother, of course. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness