A Cat's Night Before Christmas    by Henry Beard, Susann Jones & John Boswell Order:  USA  Can Broadway, 2005 (2005) Hardcover      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Henry Beard's re-telling of Clement C. Moore's classic takes the charmingly delinquent perspective of a family feline who looks remarkably like one of my cats. You know what you're in for from the first verse: ''Twas the night before Christmas / And all through the house, / Not a creature was stirring - / I'd killed the last mouse.' Susann Jones's illustration (of a mousehole with a 'For Rent' sign) adds to the humor. Anyone who lives with cats will recognize all the tricks in here - scratching the Christmas tree and breaking low hung ornaments, coughing up furballs, clawing rugs, jostling jugs, and zooming down hallways. I love the hilarious cat's-eye comment on the turkey - 'On top of the counter, Birdzilla was thawing; / On that big ugly gobbler they soon would be gnawing, / I catch heck for nibbling a few baby sparrows / And they feast on turkeys the size of wheelbarrows.' Finally, after an overdose of catnip, this new Macavity has a vision ... of 'a sleigh drawn by eight pairs of white mice' (with very funny names), carrying Saint Kitt, who happens to be a large, sardonic, white cat. Give A Cat's Night Before Christmas to kids of all ages who appreciate our feline friends. Its verses and illustrations combine into tremendous fun, and also demonstrate that there couldn't have been a cat present in Clement C. Moore's original 'Not a creature was stirring' house. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews