Undercover Cat: Cat Secrets by Jeff Czekaj

STOP! STOP READING RIGHT NOW! THIS BOOK IS FOR CATS ONLY!

Three cartoon cats take the venerated volume out of its locked museum case and share the sacred text. Their leader begins to read aloud.

THE FIRST CAT SECRET IS....

But his buddy whispers a warning that there is an unauthorized reader out there in readerland! Our orange-striped narrator has to do an immediate security check. Right in the reader's face, he boldly insists on proof that they are not a bird, a snake, dog, fish, boy, bear, girl--or heavens forbid--a MOUSE!

You say you're a cat. Prove it. The top cat orders the reader to meow, to purr, to stretch like a cat. They watch. Hmmm. Not bad. Okay, it's safe to proceed with the reading.

WAIT! The infallible test of cathood first. Napping. Unfortunately for our trio of cats, even that word brings on somnolence and one by one their eyelids droop and they begin to softly snore, to the great glee of a clever mouse, who has been waiting and watching on the edge of the page, to making a snatch for Cat Secrets.

Jeff Czekaj's well-crafted Cat Secrets (Balzer & Bray, 2011) uses only feline facial expressions and word balloons to play out his little scherzo in which the sneaky Mouse out-cats even these felines with cat-itude.

But a (moving) picture is worth 1000 words, so here's the really clever trailer for this one.

A great picture book for sharing aloud or for beginning readers to giggle over all by themselves.