by Moe Zilla

Created on: September 15, 2010

"Henry watched them put everything on the boat but him..."

It's Mary Calhoun's fourth book about Henry the cat, and it's another very engaging story. The cat stows away on a sailboat with a little boy and his father. "He'll be a sailing Siamese," says the boy, and the cat is delighted to be included on their trip. But when there's trouble on the water, will the cat actually be able to help?

Erick Ingraham, the book's illustrator, contributed some more wonderfully realistic watercolors. My favorite shows the cat climbing up to the very top of the boat's mast. He looks out at the vast water that's all around them. ("What a glorious day!" writes Calhoun, and it looks like a lot of fun.) But in the next picture, the lurching boat makes the cat cling desperately to the mast. His ears prickle up and his mouth opens wide, like he's letting out a yowl of surprise!

I like the way the author stays true to the cat's perspective. Henry overhears his owners talking, but thinks of them as "The Man" and "The Woman." The curious cat hears the sound of sea gulls, and smells the salty, damp sails that are stowed below deck. He sees black cormorants on the shore, and even a pair of dolphins leaping over the waves.

Because the story is realistic, it lets Mary Calhoun lead the characters to one very dramatic twist. The boy's father falls overboard while the boy is below the deck. The boat sails on without him, and the boy can't hear his father calling. But Henry the heroic cat claws at the crucial rope that's holding the rudder in place. Soon it comes loose, and the boat starts to turn itself around...

Henry thinks of the little boy as "The Kid," and he rushes to the deck to see what's going on. Henry wails "Meowl," and looks out at the man overboard. The little boy takes the rudder, but can't find his father. And there's a sudden storm coming, filling the water with dark blue waves.

It's always fun to read a story about animals, and this time Henry gets a chance to earn the approval of his family. There's big waves now, which threaten to carry the boy's father out towards the open sea. The cat points, with his whole body, and howls in the direction of the boy's father. He lets out a friendly "Mew" as the father swims towards the boat's ladder, and this Henry story arrives at another warm ending.  
 
"The sound in The Man's voice made Henry purr with happiness."

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