Thankful: Splat Says Thank You by Rob Scotton

SPLAT WAS WORRIED ABOUT SEYMOUR. HE HADN'T SMILED ALL DAY.

Who could blame Seymour for being glum? He's sick in bed with spots all over him.

Still, Splat can't stand for his best buddy to be morose. What can he do to coax a smile out of his ailing pal?

But Splat has a secret smile catcher -- a hand-illustrated book he's been saving to give to Seymour. Today looks like a good time.

"I MADE IT FOR YOU!" SAID SPLAT. "I CALL IT 'THE FRIENDSHIP BOOK."

Inside Splat has drawn all the highlights of his friendship with his mouse buddy -- the time Seymour talked him into trying out for the school play and helped him learn all the lines when he got the lead. Splat turns the page. And then he shows that awful moment when he forgot his lines in the middle of his performance and Seymour held up a cue card to help him get through it.

"THANK YOU!" SAYS SPLAT.

While Seymour sneezes through the story, Splat shows more moments when he owed his thanks to his best friend--the time Seymour tried to mend Mom's favorite Christmas ornament after Splat broke it and the time Splat got stuck in a tree trying to get his brother's best kite down and Seymour came to his rescue. Splat thinks Seymour almost smiles at that story, and he goes on with his recital of their best moments as friends.

"YOU ARE MY SMALLEST FRIEND AND MY BIGGEST!" SAID SPLAT.

"THANK YOU!"

Friends can make you smile even when you don't feel like it, Rob Scotton insists in his latest cat tale, Splat Says Thank You! (Splat the Cat) (Harper, 2012). Here Scotton lets his uniquely quirky drawings poke out and over of the page frame and utilizes quick-cut changes of perspective which keep the story moving.

Also, don't miss Scotton's newest I-Can-Read Splat and Seymour stories, Splat the Cat and the Duck with No Quack (I Can Read Book 1), Splat the Cat: Fishy Tales, and Splat the Cat: The Rain Is a Pain (I Can Read Book 1), all tailored to tempt the beginning reader to join this lucky black kitty in his tales for beginning readers.