Pie by Sarah Weeks

Pie

Being in Aunt Polly's pie shop, helping her bake pies, is the place where Alice Portman feels most at home. Aunt Polly, the "Pie Queen of Ipswitch", is the only one in her family who shares Alice's quirky ways and imaginative personality. When Aunt Polly suddenly passes away, Alice finds herself in possession of her disagreeable cat, Lardo, who allegedly is the only one who knows the recipe for Aunt Polly's secret pie crust.

Dealing with her grief over Aunt Polly's death, is hard enough for Alice, but suddenly all kinds of disreputable characters are after Lardo and the townspeople are all hot to match the secret pie crust recipe and become the new prize winning pie maker of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania.

This is an intriguing mystery as well as a heart-warming small-town story set in the 1950's. Readers will be truly surprised to learn how a cat could be in possession of a secret, prize-winning recipe. As an added bonus, each chapter begins with a mouth-watering pie recipe! 2011.

P. Sassoon

Cat Secrets, by Jef Czekaj

A very funny picture book for cat lovers, this starts off with a cat urgently telling readers to "Stop reading right now!" Apparently the "cat secrets" revealed in this book, can only be heard by actual cats. When the cats realize that someone other than a cat may be reading the book, they ask the reader to perform a variety of catlike actions to prove their "catness" The engaging way in which the characters speak directly to the reader, reminds one of Mo Willems, Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus books. A must-read for cat lovers or lovers of just plain funny picture books. Also good for storytimes, since the children can act out the actions to prove that they are indeed "cats"!
2011
P. Sassoon

I Don’t Like Gloria! By Kaye Umansky

Gloria is the cat who arrives at the family home and immediately grabs all the attention away from our main character, Calvin, the dog. Calvin’s fantastic facial expressions and the heartfelt, repeated refrain, “I don’t like Gloria!” pepper this humorous tale. The two remain at odds throughout the story, until the end, when a new family pet (a bunny, named Jeffery) is added into the mix. Calvin and Gloria now have something in common. “I still don’t like Gloria, and Gloria doesn’t like me,” says Calvin. “But at least we agree on one thing. We really don’t like Jeffrey!” A great choice to share with the preschool storytime crowd. 2007
A. Basso

Two Bobbies, by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery

The touching picture book tells the true story of the friendship between a dog and a cat in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They stick together and care for each other as they wander the streets, and when they are taken in by a shelter it becomes clear just how special the bond between them is. 2008.
M. Adams