The publication of Marshall's version of Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat six years after Marshall's death will give great pleasure to his many fans. In a fulsome afterword, Maurice Sendak recalls lunching with Marshall, who was somewhat reluctant to have the book published as it stood, since he wouldn't live to `finish' this book, in the sense of redoing all the pictures . . . perfecting them. Although Sendak concludes that the pictures were already perfect, they do seem sketchier than the finished art in most Marshall books. Still, even imperfect Marshall illustrations for this poem are worth a dozen perfectly executed visions by lesser artists. Fresh and funny, the artwork has its own inimitable charm. Marshall's droll humor so completely matches Edward Lear's wit that librarians will want this edition even if they have others on the shelves. Great fun for the preschool story-time crowd. (Reviewed February 1, 1999)

A feathery owl and a soft furry cat go to sea in this rendering of Lear's poem. The illustrations are tactile and full of details, from seals, cormorants, and sea horses in the ocean to curling ferns, insects, and orchids on land. Attractive as they are, they lack the whimsy one would expect to accompany this nonsense verse.

Surprisingly, there isn't a "beautiful pea-green boat[ful]" of illustrated renditions of Lear's most famous and favorite verse, making Mortimer's version with her signature style of handsome, whisker-realistic cat images a perfect marriage to the tale. <p>Surprisingly, there isn't a "beautiful pea-green boat[ful]" of illustrated renditions of Lear's most famous and favorite verse, making Mortimer's version with her signature style of handsome, whisker-realistic cat images a perfect marriage to the tale. Her delicate lines, tactile textures of feathers and fur, engaging composition and fascinating borders infused with flowers, ferns, insects and butterflies breathe life into the rhyme. Two styles of borders play off each other effectively; round insets appear like portholes while rectangular ones nicely frame a scroll-like message with text. Other illustrated depictions are less elegant: Hilary Knight's and Michael Hague's are typically wry and darkly fanciful; Jan Brett also relies on brightly colored borders, but Mortimer's palette is richer, more refined and dreamy in atmosphere. Like the title characters, the art walks "hand in hand" with the 22-line poetic romance as this delightfully charming creation does, indeed, "dance by the light of the moon." <i>(Picture book/poetry. 4-8)</i></p>

PreS-Gr 2 There are plenty of clever, humorous details in Galdone's bright watercolor illustrations, but on a whole, this book fails to live up to earlier Galdone classics. In this version, the two animals' pea green boat is the ``HMS Nonsense,'' and the bong-tree is a tree hanging with sounding bongs. These details will attract children, as will the careful matching of picture to text, but overall the use of color is too intense. The usual subtlety evident in Galdone's illustrations is missing here; each part of the double-page spreads begs for equal attention, and the pussycat looks near-drunk on most pages. Humorous, creative touches including the self portrait on the back flap of the jacket still make this book worth consideration, but Hilary Knight's charming version (Macmillan, 1983) or Cauley's romantic interpretation (Putnam, 1986) would be superior choices. Barbara S. McGinn, Oak Hill Elementary School, Severna Park, Md.