Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Socks
Illustrator: Tracy Dockray
Fiction
For ages 8 to 10
HarperCollins, 2008 ISBN: 978-0380709267
When Socks is still a very little kitten, Debbie and her brother George take him and his litter mates to town and they try to sell the kittens in front the supermarket. Their price is more than fair and yet no one seems to want any of the sweet babies. Then a couple comes along and the children step up their campaign, telling Marilyn and Bill how wonderful Socks is. The couple is immediately taken with Socks, who has four little white paws, and soon Socks is on his way to his new home.
It isn’t long before Socks has his people wrapped around his little paw. He is a much loved pet who is cuddled and played with, who sits on laps, and who knows that he is loved and appreciated. Then something strange happens. Marilyn goes away for a few days and Bill does not pay Socks much attention at all, which greatly upsets the cat. When Marilyn comes home she brings a strange little creature with her. It smells funny, makes strange noises, and Socks’ humans seem to like it a lot. So much so in fact that they barely pay him any attention. Socks is very unhappy about this new state of affairs. No one cares about him anymore and he knows the the new arrival, the baby, is to blame.
Then one day something terrible happens. Socks bites Marilyn. He does not really mean to hurt her, it just happens. He has been pushed to his limit, and since no one is willing to give him the attention that he deserves, he does what he can to get someone to notice him. It turns out that Bill and Marilyn have a limit too, and Socks finds himself locked out of the house.
Adapting to change is hard. Adapting to change when you don’t understand what is going on is even harder. In this delightful book children will meet a cat who has a perfect life, which suddenly becomes less than perfect. At times Socks’ predicament is funny, and at other times it is poignant.
