Vince reads "Where is Catkin?"I often leave my laptop on when I’m not using it. And Friday, I returned from work to find the following book review on my screen.

No one in my family admits to creating it, and when I confronted the final suspect – my cat, Vince — he just blinked at me imperiously and went back to sleep.

It’s not often that blog entries fall out of the sky, fully formed, so I’m posting it.

And I’ll be keeping a closer eye on Vince … just in case.

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Holy tuna, this house has a lot of books.

They are EVERYWHERE. I walk on them and sleep on them. Once, I even ripped a page out of one. But not on purpose. The page had a picture of yarn on it and it looked extremely realistic. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late.

But mostly I ignore the books. They’re all “Blah, blah, blah, kid this. Blah, blah, blah, kid that.” Or if I go into Gwen’s room, it’s “Blah, blah, blah vampire this. Blah, blah, blah vampire that.” There’s nothing interesting. No drama.

But today, I walked across a book that actually caught my eye. There was a cat on the cover. And a mouse. And a cricket. And a bird. Now this had possibilities. And because no one was home to give me treats or make a lap, I read it. [Editor’s note: The book is Where is Catkin? by Janet Lord and Julie Paschkis, published by Peachtree in 2010 and provided by them for this review.]

 My verdict? Practically purr-fect. Not a cat-astrophe at all.

I did paws a moment when Catkin jumps off Amy’s lap on the first page. One rule of catdom is that you never leave a warm and willing lap. Unless someone offers you food.

As I read on, I discovered Catkin had a reason for leaving. He saw a cricket. And then a frog. And then a mouse. And then a snake. And then a bird. Now that makes sense. It’s impossible to ignore these things no matter how nice a lap is.

I personally don’t get to go outside. The people who feed me are always closing doors in my face. But once … once … I got outside and made it all the way to the mailbox where a bird had built a nest and had babies. I was just getting ready to pounce when the neighbors saw me and brought me back inside. I yowled at the door for days, but no one took the hint.

But enough about my trials, back to the book. Just when Catkin is stalking, um, I mean … following the bird, disaster strikes. He climbs a tree and can’t get down. And no one knows where he is.

So he does what any self-respecting cat would do. Cries. Loudly. Because, really, that little girl named Amy shouldn’t have let him wander off on his own and climb a tree that was much too high. What was she thinking?

And the girl hears Catkin, finds him and once again offers him a warm and willing lap. Which he is happy to settle down in.

Now, cats are masters at finding crickets and frogs and birds and snakes even when they’re hiding. Human children don’t have the same innate skills, so this book provides good practice for them to find the creatures hiding in the pictures.

To learn more about Janet Lord, read this interview. She doesn’t mention cats, but you might like it anyway.

To learn more about Julie Paschkis, visit her Web site. You’ll see several pictures of cats including a book she illustrated called Fat Cat, which is not about me. I’m really quite svelte.

Now, I think it’s time for a snack. And a nap. Who’s got a lap?