Waxing Nostalgic, Part II

In last week's post I wrote about some of my daughter's favorite books when she was a toddler. (Today she is studying to be an interior designer in a NYC graduate program.) As I mentioned, Rosemary Wells's Max and Ruby books were high on her must-be-read-to list, as was The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit by Beatrice Potter. These books were staples on our bookshelves, but for her other, very favorite book we had to visit the library. First published in 1931, more than 50 years before my daughter was born, Angus and the Cat wasn't in print at the time we were reading it. (It was reprinted in1997.)

Written and illustrated by Marjorie Flack, the picture book features Angus, a feisty Scottish terrier. The little dog's nose is put out of joint when a cat is added to the household. Again and again, Angus is frustrated by the cat as she boxes his ears, steals his food, and claims Angus's "special square of sunshine" as her own.

Each time Angus tries to nab her, the cat jumps out of reach. After a few days spent chasing after the cat, Angus can't find her--anywhere. In my daughter's favorite spread, Angus can be seen looking out the top floor window searching for the cat. An astute reader can spot the cat on the roof out of the dog's range. When the cat returns, Angus realizes he missed her and the two settle into a friendship. The last picture shows them drinking from the same bowl.

Since my daughter is an only child, why this book that obviously is a stand-in for siblings learning to share made such an impression mystifies me. Maybe she saw the trouble a sibling can bring and was glad she didn't have a little sister or brother sitting in her favorite patch of sun? She did love this book, though, and we checked it out of the library every opportunity we could.

Flack wrote two other books about Angus, Angus and the Ducks and Angus Lost. My daughter liked these as well, but not as much as Angus and the Cat. She also penned, but did not draw, one of my favorite picture books, The Story of Ping. But that's another post!