Bad Cat    by Tracy-Lee McGuinness-Kelly Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2003 (2003) Hardcover      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson At first I thought this was going to be a tale of a Macavity type cat, but it's not quite. The small spunky feline is a black sheep - whatever he does gets him into trouble, but it's never intended and it usually has an unexpectedly good outcome. This small black, bow-tied cat has a Chesshire grin and lives 'in a huge, dirty city' that he calls 'the Big Stinky.' The illustrations are childlike but edgy and full of the fascinating sort of detail that I've always enjoyed exploring in picture books with my own children. We watch as Bad Cat wanders the city, stumbling into one situation after another - he paints a wall, sprays water, picks flowers, drops a banana peel, bounces on a bed ... and always sings songs. People yell 'Hey, you, bad cat! Don't you do that!' and only realize after he's long gone that 'Bad Cat, Bad Cat, you're not as bad as all that!' Bad Cat is a loner and a bit of a rebel (and I'm sure he's attention deficit) but he's also a catalyst who makes good things happen as he jumps from one misadventure into another. Kids often feel misunderstood by those around them but unable to articulate what really happened - they'll find it very easy to identify with Bad Cat's antics and sheer exuberance ... and it's really true; he's not as bad as all that! 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