A boy loves his cat so much he wants to keep him a bit too close in artist/illustrator Johan Leynaud's wise and adorable English-language debut, the picture book Arthur's Cat, about expressing and respecting boundaries.
An exuberant spiky-haired boy named Arthur finds out that doting on a cat is a tricky proposition in this French import translated by Sarah Ardizzone. Lovestruck Arthur goes to extreme measures to care for Zeffo, his turquoise-colored kitty. He stacks a mountain of furniture against a bookshelf to reach the feline. He creates another mountain, this one of pots and pans, to cook a "din-din" feast for the cat. Zeffo tolerates the boy following him around, attempting to bounce together on the trampoline, or reading him "a few" books. But when Arthur goes in for a big hug, "because he loves [Zeffo] so, so much," the cat scratches the boy, putting the kibosh on the relationship (at least temporarily). Arthur needs to take a little time to learn that love means showing consideration for boundaries and Zeffo needs a few days to learn to trust Arthur again. Eventually, the kitty and his boy learn how to "love each other... freely."
Leynaud's pencil, ink, felt pen, and digital art creatively uses white space (with pale washes of color) to produce a world of black-outlined images. Only two figures have hues: the boy with his peachy skin and Zeffo with his soft turquoise fur. Pet owners may connect with Arthur's efforts, while others will likely enjoy Leynaud's art, reminiscent of Hilary Knight's Eloise illustrations and Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor