Smudge
Mama and Papa cats, Muff and Buster, have just added three new kittens to their family--a red one, a multicolored one, and a brave black one named Smudge. Soon, their eyes open and "soon after that they learned to walk, waddling about unsteadily on their short legs, with their tails sticking up like little pine trees." One day their parents leave them alone in their box, and because kittens are prone to mischief, mischief ensues. Rugs are attacked, curtains are clawed, and yikes!--a lamp gets broken. Muff and Buster come to the rescue, and three exhausted kitties snuggle in for the night with a loving licking from Mama Muff.This classic storybook, by Caldecott Honor author/illustrator Clare Turlay Newberry, was originally published in 1948 and was named one of the Fifty Books of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Newberry's charming illustrations are some of the sweetest animal images you'll ever come across. No wonder she was known by some as "The Cat Lady."