Digby and Kate and the Beautiful Day

Provides young readers with a collection of five easy-to-read tales about Digby and Kate, a dog and cat duo who are the best of friends and spend all their time together playing games, taking walks, and sharing special moments.

Kindergarten-Grade 1?Kate the cat and Digby the dog return in this easy reader that features their unlikely but successful friendship. As in Digby and Kate (Puffin, 1993) and Digby and Kate Again (Dutton, 1989), these best buddies don't necessarily see eye-to-eye, but they invariably manage to find a middle ground. Each of the five chapters is a good-humored, unassuming lesson in the ways of compromise. Children will understand just how Digby feels when Kate makes up her own rules for playing checkers and they will easily identify with Kate's exasperation over Digby's infatuation with his new camera. Though some might worry about Kate's longing for a "warm and tasty" mouse in the opening episode, Digby saves the day (and the mouse) by tempting Kate with pizza instead. Playful, full-color illustrations are a perfect match for the simple text. Beginning readers won't be disappointed.?Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This third installment in the Digby and Kate saga finds the dog and cat chums engaged in their usual benign contumacy. In five quick vignettes, the pair lock horns: In one, Kate wants to play checkers, but she also wants to make the rules, spontaneously, during play; in another, Digby bores Kate silly with his absorption in his new camera, so she pockets the device when it is her turn; later Digby despairs about going for a walk when it starts to rain--``Now we cannot go for a walk. We cannot feel the sun on our heads. We cannot run in the grass. We cannot pick flowers''--but Kate disagrees and makes sure Digby has fun in the rain. So it goes. Digby and Kate may have their tiffs, but they work through them as one or the other cleverly and gently turns the tables. Theirs is a wished-for world, intimate and frank. For the illustrations, which are full of funny asides, Winborn splices Garth Williams's warmth with Edward Koren's droll flippancy. (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 1^-2. In the third Dutton Easy Reader about the dog and cat Digby and Kate, the best friends have fun, even though they don't always get along. They play checkers, and Kate keeps changing the rules so that she can win. Digby wants to go for a walk, but Kate insists on painting his portrait. He gets a camera and insists on photographing everything, but she wants to chase bugs, climb trees, and smell flowers instead of taking pictures of them. In the final story, they walk together in the rain and enjoy cocoa and cinnamon toast when they get home. Winborn's bright, playful illustrations on every page show the friends arguing and also being cozy together. Kids will laugh even as they recognize the standoffs and the affection. Hazel Rochman