Heart-y Reading: Love, Splat! by Rob Scotton

Kitten has snowy, white paws and pea green eyes, and Splat liked her more than fish sticks and ice cream.

Rob Scotton's delightful cat character, Splat the Cat, first introduced last year as he dealt with the anxiety of the first day of school, is back, coping with the second-most anxiety-provoking day of the school year--VALENTINE (yikes!) DAY.

Splat has a boy cat-crush on Kitten, but despite his efforts his love seems to be unrequited. Whenever he tries to talk to her, she pokes him, ties his tail in a tangle, and scampers away on her cute little white paws. Still, Splat hopes that his special Valentine card will win her heart.

But when Splat arrives at school for the big day, his hopes are dashed when he sees that classroom top cat Spike has a much bigger card addressed to Kitten. It's a cat-astrophe for poor little Splat, until Kitten turns the tables on tough tomcat Spike and gives her own specially made Valentine to Splat, with the longed-for message, "I Like You!"

Love, Splat, is the perfect vehicle to show off Rob Scotton's (of Russell the Sheep fame) quirky but eye-catching illustrative style. Splat's squiggly, spiky shape is the perfect visual foil for his giant red Valentine, and his comic expressions as he contemplates the capricious object of his affections tell the story almost without the benefit of the apt text. This holiday tale is a great second outing for this nervous-as-a-cat character with whom all kids will find it easy to identify.