Max the Brave by Ed Vere

Like the youthful heroes of yore, Max is ready to go out on his first quest. Being a little black kitty hero, his chosen monster is the fabled Mouse. There's just a miniscule problem...

MAX NEEDS TO FIND OUT WHAT A MOUSE LOOKS LIKE.

Tired of being called "Sweet Kitty" and wearing a cutesy bows, Max dresses the part of caped crusader and is all settled to show his mettle in the conquest of The Mouse, just as soon as he figures out just what he looking for.

He approaches an empty tin can. He bravely calls out a challenge:

"MOUSE! ARE YOU IN THERE?"

A housefly flits out. Surely that cannot be the legendary Mouse!

Max stalks the goldfish bowl and repeats his query:

I AM FISH, BUT I JUST SAW MOUSE DASH OUTSIDE," SAYS GOLDFISH.

Outside, Max sees a flock of birds. No, they're not Mouse, but they just happened to see Mouse scooting by. Pink Elephant ("Eeeekkk!") and Rabbit ("Thataway!)" give Max the same bum steer. At last he stumbles upon a likely-looking little critter with whiskers and long tail; Hmmm! This looks do-able!

"ARE YOU MOUSE, BY ANY CHANCE?" MAX POLITELY INQUIRES.

"WHO, ME?" SAYS MOUSE. "CERTAINLY NOT. I'M MONSTER, BUT I DID JUST SEE MOUSE SLEEPING OVER THERE...."

Just a cartoon mouse Jerry always gives Tom the cat the runaround, Mouse cleverly identifies Green Monster as The Mouse, and after consideration of his considerable big teeth and even bigger mouth, Max the Brave throws in the towel, er, cape, in Ed Vere's quirky cat and mouse tale, Max the Brave (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2015). Vere's small centered illustrations, limited to Max and his current tete a' tete partner, and his understated but super-polite text, give this one a wry twist on the hero story in which Max the Brave eschews chasing and morphs into, maybe not Max the Wise, but certainly Max the Expedient. "A cat-and-mouse game to be laughed at and re-read," quips Kirkus Reviews.

Ed Vere's other books include Max At Night, and Bedtime for Monsters.