Digby and Kate and the Beautiful Day (Easy-To-Read, Dutton) - Hardcover

This third installment in the Digby and Kate saga finds the dog and cat chums engaged in their usual benign contumacy. In five quick vignettes, the pair lock horns: In one, Kate wants to play checkers, but she also wants to make the rules, spontaneously, during play; in another, Digby bores Kate silly with his absorption in his new camera, so she pockets the device when it is her turn; later Digby despairs about going for a walk when it starts to rain--``Now we cannot go for a walk. We cannot feel the sun on our heads. We cannot run in the grass. We cannot pick flowers''--but Kate disagrees and makes sure Digby has fun in the rain. So it goes. Digby and Kate may have their tiffs, but they work through them as one or the other cleverly and gently turns the tables. Theirs is a wished-for world, intimate and frank. For the illustrations, which are full of funny asides, Winborn splices Garth Williams's warmth with Edward Koren's droll flippancy. (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Kindergarten-Grade 1?Kate the cat and Digby the dog return in this easy reader that features their unlikely but successful friendship. As in Digby and Kate (Puffin, 1993) and Digby and Kate Again (Dutton, 1989), these best buddies don't necessarily see eye-to-eye, but they invariably manage to find a middle ground. Each of the five chapters is a good-humored, unassuming lesson in the ways of compromise. Children will understand just how Digby feels when Kate makes up her own rules for playing checkers and they will easily identify with Kate's exasperation over Digby's infatuation with his new camera. Though some might worry about Kate's longing for a "warm and tasty" mouse in the opening episode, Digby saves the day (and the mouse) by tempting Kate with pizza instead. Playful, full-color illustrations are a perfect match for the simple text. Beginning readers won't be disappointed.?Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools
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