Top Cat:: The Amazing Hamweenie by Pattie Bowman

IN A BIG CITY

THERE LIVED A CAT NAMED HAMWEENIE.

HE DREAMS OF GRANDEUR.
AND STARDOM.

"Ah, but a cat's dream should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" (to paraphrase the poet), and Hamweenie is a pampered pet, a coddled kitty, but he's a cat with more grandiose visions than even his life in a posh Gotham apartment provides. His velvet pillow is reserved for his naps, with his own TV and remote handy, and the greatest abuse in his life is being dressed in dainty doll clothes and trundled about by his dotting little mistress in her dolly perambulator.

But Hamweenie finds this life a trial. He has aspirations of a more glamorous life. Turned out in top hat and cape, he sees himself as a famous magician, starring to the oohs and ahs of a vast audience of fans, immortalized in a huge Macy's Parade helium balloon sculpture while he rides triumphantly  enthroned on his float below.

Meanwhile Hamweenie is tortured by the threat of a sudsy bath and offended by the delicacies in his dish, in Patty Bowman's brand-new The Amazing Hamweenie (Philomel, 2012). Bowman's skillful artwork pokes ironic fun at Hamweenie's catnip dreams in her duo level illustrations, Hamweenie's dreams of himself as the powerful prestidigitator or intrepid tightrope walker, basking in the roar of the adoring crowd, all shown in thought balloons above his head, while his real self reclines on his comfy cat bed in front of a television set, noshing on Fishy Snacks and the captions describes the self-described hardships he is forced to endure.

NEVERTHELESS, FATE HAS BEEN CRUEL TO HIM.

An ironic spoof on the indignities of the life that fickle fate assigned to this cosseted kitty, The Aazing Hamweenie is a hoot. "A main character named Hamweenie almost guarantees strange and delightful detail, and Bowman doesn’t disappoint," says Booklist.