Many children want a pet but have parents who are reluctant to oblige them for one reason or other. Lucy, the little girl in this story, has that problem, but solves it in a - literally - imaginative way. She envisions a cat named Silvring who emerges from behind her wallpaper at night. Silvring and Lucy go out on adventures, encountering other secret pets and their owners on the way.

In the morning, Silvring is gone:

"Because during the day, the secret animals sleep inside the walls, hidden behind the wallpaper.

They sleep and wait for night to come, and for someone to whisper: ‘Silvring, come out!’”

Watercolor and ink illustrations by the author ably display a panoply of emotions and are dominated by colors of pink and blue, which give a dreamlike quality to the story. But best of all are the pictures of Lucy - an adorable girl with her hair in two afro puffs who steals every frame in which she appears.

Evaluation: This book for ages 4 to 8 is bound to please any child who dreams of having a pet. The illustrations will take readers to faraway places that may inspire their own flights of imagination. ( )