M Is for Meow: A Cat Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabets)
Grade 3-6–Like the other titles in this series of theme-based alphabet books, this one is tough to pigeonhole. The cover, featuring a meowing ginger kitten, implies a preschool alphabet book with suitable illustrations. The pictures are indeed suitable–gorgeous, in fact–rendered in a style that looks uncannily photographic. But the book is jam-packed with facts and ephemera that will be beyond the grasp of an audience reading below a third-grade level. The information is not organized in any particular order, but at the whim of the alphabet itself (A is for ancestors and anatomy, T is for tail and toes, W is for whiskers). A spread of cat stats and feline facts is appended.Meowis worth purchasing if it is to complement the other books in the series. But as a stand-alone source for all things feline, try Joan Holub'sWhy Do Cats Meow?(Dial, 2001), Marty Crisp'sEverything Cat(NorthWord, 2003), and Tomie dePaola's classicThe Kids' Cat Book(Holiday House, 1979; o.p.).–Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.