In this paean to a feline friend, Polacco tells how the love of a cat leads to comfort, worry and romance. Student-teacher Danielle adopts Autumn as a kitten and brings her to Washington state when she gets a job there. All is well in their "enchanted cottage by the sea" until a wounded Autumn disappears on a stormy night. Danielle's young students help her search, to no avail. Six weeks later, Danielle and her students plant flowers to memorialize Autumn, and, as if summoned, Autumn appears-with stitches on her tail! A stranger has cared for the cat, and when he scrawls his number on Autumn's collar, Danielle phones him at the children's urging. When he shows up, it's clear that Danielle and Stephen are meant to be, complete with romance-movie effects. The unabashed focus on Danielle's fairy-tale-like romance seems to appeal more to an adult sensibility than a child's, and some might wonder at the students' close involvement in their teacher's private life, but child readers will doubtless respond to Autumn's genuinely vivid personality. (Picture book. 7-10)

Polacco has created another picture book filled with warmth and love. A student teacher, Danielle, rescues a kitten, and when she gets a teaching job that takes her to Port Townsend, WA, and a house on a bay, they settle in. Then Autumn is wounded and lost in a thunderstorm, and despite Danielle's class's efforts to find her, she appears to be gone for good. Everyone is amazed when she returns weeks later, fit as a fiddle. Danielle eventually meets the man who has cared for her pet, and they fall in love. This is a lovely story, with a strong sense of place and illustrated with Polacco's trademark patterns and facial structures. While this story is too long for a traditional storytime, it could be used successfully as a one-on-one read.-Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ

Danielle, a student teacher, adopts a stray kitten she names Autumn. She takes Autumn with her to her teaching job in Port Townsend, Washington. There she loves her students, her garden, and her cottage by the sea. One day after a storm Autumn disappears. Her students help her search, but the cat is gone and Danielle is desolate. After six weeks, Autumn surprisingly returns in fine condition. Then she leaves again—and returns with a flea collar. The next time she is gone, she comes home with a phone number on the collar Danielle has put on her. When Danielle calls the phone number, the man who answers claims that Autumn is his cat, one he took in on a stormy night. After an exchange of notes, the class decides she must invite him so they can meet him. The happy ending to the lengthy but engaging text is no surprise. Pencils and markers combine to produce a sense of spontaneity that helps project the young cat's approach to life. Large pages comfortably hold the naturalistic details of interiors and outdoors, along with the feline's antics. Polacco's portraits of Autumn are particularly deft. The characters are all created with genuine personalities. The young man is named to honor Stephen Noton, a supporter of the First Amendment Project. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz