Promises, Promises! Splat the Cat for President by Rob Scotton

The ballots were counted.

It was official--Splat was the new student body president.

Everyone cheered. Well, almost everyone.

It is time for Splat's big acceptance speech. His chest swells with pride, and he is eager to please all his voters.

"I promise that everyone will get new pencils! Your goldfish will get better food!"

MEH. Splat's public is not impressed.

"So LAME!" they mutter.

Suddenly Splat senses that his followers are growing disenchanted. He's losing his electorate! He figures he got to up the ante on his promises. So the next day he announces that he's making some big changes. No more school buses. Everyone will have their own car to take to school. Pizza will be served in the cafeteria every day. Robot teachers will be available to do everyone's homework.

Splat is on a roll. The crowd goes wild. His presidency is going to be--HUGE!

Except--none of that is going to happen. Splat's teacher Mrs. Wimpydimple takes him for a a brief walk down the hallway and points out that there is no way he can keep those promises. Where are the cars and pizzas and robots going to come from? Splat admits he hasn't figured out how that is going to happen yet. His teacher calmly puts her hand on his shoulder.

"You can still make a difference," says Mrs. Dimpywimple.

In the latest in his books in Harper's venerable series, Rob Scotton's Splat the Cat for President (HarperCollins, 2016), Splat the Cat learns a lesson in making promises he cannot keep and considers instead the politics of the possible. With the short and easy-going text by J. E. Bright and Rick Farley and illustrations that reveal Splat's eager-to-please but perpetually anxious personality, kids will get a chuckle as they learn two lessons in leadership--"You can't please everyone" and "Don't make promises you can't keep."