Gracie's Book Nook February 2017: Sharing And Adventures? No, Thank You! To begin my first column, I'd like to paws for a minute and fill you in on some changes. You may remember Sammy of Sammy's Shelf fame, and you may be wondering why you haven't seen his column in quite a while. After a long and happy life living with Bob Walch, Sammy has gone to the big cat nip patch in the sky. I am Gracie, a pint-sized, mostly Maine Coon mix, and have shown an interest in reading and aptitude in writing. I decided I want to follow in my uncle Sammy's paw prints. I recently adopted Bob's daughter Jessica Maguire as my chief of staff and lady's maid. While my person (aka my lady's maid) was tending to my empty food dish and full litter box, I amused myself by pawing through Explorers Of The Wild (Disney/Hyperion. ISBN: 9781484723401) by Cale Atkinson. Huh, I thought to myself, 'Two explorers make one BIG discovery.' Hah, I bet my lady's maid is making a BIG discovery of her own in my litter box right now! Anyway, as a particularly shy and timid kitty, the mere thought of exploring (especially with someone else) sounded like a crock of used kitty litter to me. Curiosity getting the better of me, I am a cat after all, I read on. A little boy exploring the forest with a BEAR?! I don't think so! Sure, the bear seems nice, but one false move and the kid is dinner. You'd think bears and boys would know better than to hang out together. You'd certainly never, ever see a cat do that. We prefer our own company and don't like hanging out with critters that are so big they could squash us flat in one sitting. But I digress. After meeting each other the kid and bear have a romp through the forest. They roll down hills, run a lot, and eat things. Why on earth would anyone do that? No sir, just give my cozy cardboard shipping box and a bowl of kibbles any day! And they snacked on berries (yuck) and not mice (yum)! What's up with that? Very strange indeed, if you ask me. Their big adventure ends unceremoniously when the kid has to go home for the night. Not much excitement there. Then again, I do hate getting riled up before an afternoon of marathon napping. So, a quiet ending is probably best, and will be good for getting the small people off to the land of nod. And the pictures are good too. They cover the entire page and are in color, so I can spend hours staring at them, wondering why the birds and bunnies don't move, even after I squash them with my paws. The birds do look tasty though (What?! I'm a cat! But don't worry, I live strictly indoors on a bird-free diet). Now that we have the adventure aspect out of the way let me discuss this sharing thing. What is up with that?! I have to share my space with another cat, Junipurr. We do not explore together. He does his thing, I do mine, and once in a while I sniff his backside and he bats at my tail. That's how life is for us cats. But I guess people like to share, thought I can't understand why. Maybe that's what makes this book fiction. Gracie graciously shares her living quarters with Jessica Maguire. Aside from keeping the food dish full and litter box clean, lady's maid Jessica keeps Gracie well stocked with plenty of books to read and a cozy laptop for Gracie to work, and warm her bum, on. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.