This charm­ing vignette is based on a true sto­ry, which encour­ages read­ers to sus­pend dis­be­lief to enjoy a quirky plot and won­der­ful illustrations.

Although pop­u­lat­ed by a Jew­ish man and a cat with a Yid­dish name, it is not real­ly a Jew­ish tale. Moshe is a com­pos­er who walks to hear the sounds of his city for his music. One day he res­cues a stray kit­ten, ket­zel in Yid­dish, which becomes the animal’s name. The ani­mal responds to the dif­fer­ent emo­tions in the composer’s musi­cal scores. Moshe decides to enter a musi­cal con­test that seeks a beau­ti­ful com­po­si­tion in only six­ty sec­onds. He can­not come up with an idea. The cat walks across the keys, cre­at­ing a mag­nif­i­cent theme. Moshe works on this theme, sub­mits it to the con­test judges, wins a spe­cial men­tion and hears it played by a young girl in the con­cert hall where he sits with his cat. When Ketzel’s name is called out, the cat meows. The laughing

audi­ence brings the angry stage man­ag­er to the front lights to ask that the cat go. Then Moshe declares the cat is the com­pos­er; the two take a bow with the pianist. The piece is played in con­certs around the world, gar­ner­ing the kit­ten royalties!

Love, car­ing, music, a phi­los­o­phy of lis­ten­ing, and the Peabody Con­ser­va­to­ry mesh with out­stand­ing illus­tra­tions which piv­ot points of view as they cap­ture faces and mobile actions in a deli­cious read. Rec­om­mend­ed for the pic­ture book crowd and cat lovers of all ages.