I liked this book for a few reasons. For one, I liked the language because a section of the story was written in a pattern. For example, different characters would approach the fox and ask her to marry them but she would explain that she was already married to Mister Cat-and-a-half. Each character would then ask how they could be friends with him. Each time she would explain that, “he likes fine food. Why don’t you invite us to dinner?” Also, I liked the characters because they represented a wide range of animals. In real life, different animals act differently, but in the story, they all acted cowardly towards Mister Cat-and-a-half who they had not met yet. The big message of Mister Cat-and-a-half is that you should not be too quick to judge someone. In the story, all of the characters were automatically afraid of Mister Cat-and-a-half but they never really got to know him to realize that he is not scary. ( )

Forced to leave his comfortable life in the royal kitchens, Mister Cat-and-a-Half is lucky enough to meet up with Mistress Fox, and the two are soon married. When a wolf, a bear, a boar, and a hare come calling, all are misled by the clever fox (and by their own lack of knowledge), and come to believe that a cat must be a very fierce creature indeed! The "free dinner" enjoyed by the cat and fox as a result, concludes this delightfully comic folktale from the Ukraine...

Pevear, best known for his translations (together with his wife, Larissa Volokhonsky) of Russian literature, here turns his attention to storytelling. The engaging tale of Mister Cat-and-a-Half is paired with Richard Rayevsky's delightful illustrations, which really accentuate the humor of the story.

As an aside, those readers who have a difficult time believing that a cat might intimidate larger creatures, are encouraged to consider the story of Jack, a New Jersey tabby-cat who treed a young bear:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060613-cat-bear.html ( )