SUSAN LOESCH

Are there weeks when you are so busy you’d like to clone yourself? That was Shadow and Barney’s
predicament last week. Sometimes working two jobs makes you feel like you are meeting yourself
coming and going … even if you are a cat!

Barn and Shadow have their job as library cats, but they also are kept busy as Feline Rescue and Rehome PR Ambassadors.

What a week they had! A Jeans Day benefit, FuRR’s three-day fundraiser sale and, for Shadow, his first prom!
They squeezed in visits to school, one each. Then on Thursday, Shadow worked long hours. He headed to USAble Insurance Co. where he supervised a group of us 2-legged animals as we met USAble employees who had chosen to make FuRR the recipient of their ‘Jeans for a Means’ day for April.

The weather was wonderful for a change, although the wind was pretty brisk. That didn’t bother Shads! He was all decked out in a white bandana with a red heart, modeling the ones we have for sale.

When people saw him on his leash we heard over and over, “My cat .would NEVER do that.”

I know that was a smile I saw on Shadow’s face; he knows he is quite unique with his harness and leash technique. He even let our visitors hold him.

Later in the day came his big event, though. My senior, Trinity, wanted to have a picture of Shadow with her in her prom dress.

That of course required prom clothes for Shadow. For his bandana I found a filmy blue material that matched her prom dress exactly, even down to the silver flecks. Since she was going to have  black feathers in her corsage we picked up a black feather “man-boa” for Shadow to wear around his neck. Now, my friends have tried to tell me that there is no such thing as a “man boa,”
but Trinity and Shadow will tell you different. They made such a stunning couple!

After we took pictures, Trinity went to the prom with “just a friend” while her real date went home with me.

We stopped by the big FuRR sale where volunteers were setting up.

Shadow walked around a bit on his leash and then hopped into a drawer and settled down. Such a hard day he had had, and such a good job he had done!

This was a rest he had earned.

On Friday Barney took over. I dropped him by the sale on my way to work. Barn is a little more laid
back and loves to walk on his leash. I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about because he had a big carrier to rest in and the FuRR gang always takes good care of him.

But I have to admit to giving a small gasp when I got to the sale after work. There was Barn, chilling under a tree, leash held tightly, of course, by a volunteer. Upon taking a closer look I saw that he was just chowing down and having a bit to drink after a long hard day. Because of his stellar performance on Friday, he won the opportunity to be on duty Saturday also.

We both arrived early Saturday morning, and Barney got busy PR-ing. He walked around and worked the crowd.

As a couple of little girls walked up to him, one looked at me and said, “Now THAT is unusual, isn’t it!”

Barn made quite a sight in his “peace, love and rock ‘n roll” bandana and he let the girls admire
it – and him – as they petted him.
His friend Trinity came by and took over the leash duties. They covered the sale site again and then
Barn posed for a picture with a bunch of the FuRR volunteers. He spent most of the day on duty, patrolling the area and letting himself be admired. He was very ready to go home and take a nap by the end of the afternoon.

What a busy week for a couple of young feline professionals holding down not just one job, but two. They do it with such style!

SUSAN LOESCH

So what does a library cat do when he isn’t working with the kids, helping them select books or  work on the computer? He keeps busy with many other things!

Over the past week or so Shadow has dressed for Easter, acquired additional computer skills, worked with the printer and…gotten married!

Barney had the opportunity to become a style icon, and he turned it down.

Shadow continues to love to sit, sleep or stand on my keyboard — or knock it off the desk entirely if he doesn’t have enough wiggle room. Sitting on the keyboard this week, he managed to turn off the monitor. Confused as to where his picture had gone, he looked up at us as if to ask, “What in the world happened? You are going to fix it, of course.”

And we did.

He found the printer and wasn’t sure paper was supposed to come out, piece-by-piece as it was doing, so he monitored the printer for a while. I am just glad he hasn’t learned to print on his own.

And I wish he didn’t feel the need to rearrange all the figurines and pictures sitting on my printer!

Barney modeled a handsome orange and white striped t-shirt. It was stylishly trimmed in a masculine blue and said “Tuff Guy,” which is a perfect description of Barn.

He looked so fine, but he let us know in no uncertain terms that he didn’t approve. After rolling around in it, he stood in front of Mary and Lea and “Rahrr’d” a demand that it come off.

They tried to tell him what a handsome dude he was but to no avail.

Once freed of the offensive T-shirt, Barn went to work patrolling the library while secondary kids were here. He’s become my go-to guy for working with older kids.

Meanwhile Shadow came to school the Friday before Easter wearing a wonderful Easter bandana from Ms. Lanita. It was yellow and white and was adorned with a yellow chick. He did look fine and was much admired.

Being admired is, of course, a major job responsibility for a library cat, and both Shadow and Barney take that part of their job very seriously.

He caught up with a group of my juniors and seniors and posed with them for a picture. Of the 5 students, I’ve had three since they were tiny. They don’t remember the library without a library cat!

Oh, and about getting married … Bailey came to the library with her class and was kissing Shadow. “Are you guys getting married?” asked one of her classmates.

“Yes, we are,” said Bailey. “Shadow is my husband.”

The class went on to check out books and read for the period. When they lined up to leave, as she went out the door, Bailey called out, “Bye, Shadow. Bye, my husband!”

And you thought being a library cat involved just books and reading!

SUSAN LOESCH

After waiting patiently while Shadow was on the job for several times Barney finally got his  chance.

When we got out of the car, his friend Trinity met us and carried him up to the Library. The last time Barney was here was last June. It’s been a long time!

The kids wasted no time getting reacquainted with Barn! Mary soon joined us, and Barney started the day with pets and treats. After a couple of good morning “Rahrrs,” Barney settled in like he’d never been away.

He stretched out on the counter, got some pets from Trinity, and she showed him the new sign with our library rules.

Our sign says: “Shadow says, ‘Rule #1 is Books Before Cats!’” “Barney says, ‘Rule #2 is Feed Library Cats lots of Treats!’”

I’m pretty sure I heard Barney tell Trin that he liked Rule #2 the best.

Our first group of the day was the preschool class, the 4-year-olds. They stopped to pet Barney when they came in for their story, and when we went to the bean bags Barney came along.

Thinking the kids would pay better attention without Barney, he went to spend a while in my office. We heard his “Rahrr” for a while!

After the story he got more treats.

One of the preschoolers exclaimed, “He is eating from my hand; it feels like he’s LICKING me!”

Soon came our littlest students, the 3-year-olds, to meet Barney for the first time and to select books.

I sat down on the floor with them, Barney in my lap. Soon four sets of little hands all had hold of his tail! Then three held his tail while the fourth petted him – tail to head!

That Barney was so good. He did look at me a few times like he was wondering how long it would last, but he patiently stayed in my lap.

Our kids have been taking ATAAP tests this week, so I have had extra secondary students in the library when they aren’t testing.

Barney helped one of my seniors at the computer for a while before he settled down in his bed. He has always been good about offering his help.

In late morning he decided on a wardrobe change and replaced his light blue and white bandana with a royal blue and white one. He was then ready for the sixth graders, who have spent the week testing.

Boy, were they excited to be finished! They came in wearing their “We Survived ACTAAP” shirts, and we decided to just have “cat time.” The kids had certainly earned it.

They petted Barney, and Brandon fed him way lots of treats. One student showed Barney a picture out of Cat Fancy magazine, and Brianna looked through a stack of new books and showed them to him.

Barney was more excited about the treats than he was about hearing the new book titles … biographies of Selena Gomez, Taylor Lautner, Justin Bieber. Brianna was excited enough for them both.

Barney had gone all day without knocking things over, but while the 6th graders were there he stretched out on the desk and four pictures of Big Footsie and Alex went crashing to the floor.

Right on cue the whole group hanging out at the desk yelled, “Good job, Barney!” He’d saved his performance for a big audience.

During the last period of the day I had a library-full of juniors and seniors. Barney was lying on the floor, and when he jumped up on the counter he surprised Ray, another student I’ve had since kindergarten.

“Oh,” Ray said, “I didn’t know there was a cat here.”

“This is Barney,” I told him.

“Well, hi, dinosaur,” he said to Barn, and then began to sing the Barney song as others joined in.

Barney just took it all in stride.

Barney’s first day back at school was a busy one.

As we went to the car I heard a few Rahrrs from Barn, but they weren’t grumpy ones.

I think he knew he made a whole lot of kids happy today, and for a cat that’s a good day’s work.

SUSAN LOESCH

A new week, and it’s back to work for Shadow, head library cat at Arkansas School for the Blind.

The excitement hasn’t worn off for either the kids or Shadow. He is, however, settling back into the job, and there are signs that he already feels like it is his library.

One of the things he does first every morning is knock one of Big Footsie’s photos down the book return. He then makes sure my computer is working. That involves standing on the keyboard and making sure he gets just the right “beep, beep,  beep.” Sometimes it takes lying on the keyboard to be sure.

I’m settling in, too, and remembering a few of the things I’d forgotten about having a feline co-worker.

Number one rule is don’t … absolutely DO NOT … put my coffee cup down any place that Shadow can reach. It WILL be knocked over no matter how full of hot coffee it is.

Yep, I was reminded of that the hard way, and it involved a whole lot of paper towels. Maybe I should also mention that said cup of coffee was right by my computer.

Also, do not leave my lunch sitting on my desk. Only part of it will be
there later if I don’t guard it.

On the positive side, if I am caught talking to myself I can always say I was
talking to Shadow.

Shad’s first customers of the day were some of my fifth graders, coming to get books. All decked out in a handsome yellow bandana, he made it hard for them to follow our “Books Before Cats” rule as he tried to help them pick out books. He continued to offer his help to everyone who came in all morning.

Shadow switched from bandana to a tie before the first graders came.

He took time for a visit from his buddy Mr. Gould, our instrumental music instructor, who had a little man-to-man advice.

“That tie,” he told Shadow, “is too loud for this job. It looks more like something you’d wear on vacation in Florida to attract the babes.”

Everyone got a laugh out of that.

My first graders, who have asked, on a weekly basis, when the cats would be back, were so excited to come to the library. We’ve been working on our “Books Before Cats” rule for a week now, and they had it down, hard as it was to follow.

While Shadow spent time in my office, we had a fun library skills activity. Inspired by Laura Numeroff’s books, each student completed the sentence, “When you give a Library Cat a…” and then added their illustrations.

We had “When you give a library cat a piece of gum he will get fat” and “When you give a Library cat a pretty bow she will want a friend.”

Library skills out of the way, out came Shadow. The kids held him, squeezed him, crawled cat-like on the floor after him, meowing all the way and, of course, fed him lots of treats. I think Shadow had a ball, and I know the kids did.

Later in the day Makayla came in; she has always been one of my biggest cat lovers and one of Big Footsie’s biggest fans.

Probably not a week goes by that she doesn’t mention him.

Shadow was rolling on the desk and of course knocked off books, pictures, pencils and more.

“He’s gonna be just like Big Footsie,” Makayla exclaimed.

“He’s taking Big Footsie’s place.” Then she stopped.

“No, “she said,” Nobody can ever take Big Footsie’s place. Shadow is just covering for him!”

Then she asked me to take a picture of her holding our portraits of Footsie and Alex.

So as we head toward the close of the school year we finally have our kids and cats back together.

Shadow is settling in as our new head library cat, and we have a new normal.

He isn’t Big Footsie, or Alex; he is making the job all his own.

Every one seems to agree that Shadow is already doing a great job filling some awfully big paws here at ASB.

SUSAN LOESCH

Cold and clear with temperatures in the 50s. A typical Arkansas late winter day. Inside the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, however, there was no cold and nothing typical about the day!

This was the first day since last May that we had cats finally back in our library stacks. The school was abuzz with excitement.

Students had known before spring break that Shadow would be at school this week, and his visit was happily anticipated by everyone from first grade through 12th.

I was a bit nervous heading to school, thinking about all the things I had to bring. New carrier, Shadow inside, check. New litterbox, liners, scoop, food, treats, check.

Definitely treats; I had four kinds with me.

Shadow was sporting a new bandana and collar. Not HIS new collar; he had already lost that somewhere in the house the night before. He wore Barney’s new one.

And then came the kids!

Two of my fifth-grade boys were first, one returning to our school after attending one elsewhere.

“Hey,” he said. “It’s the first day back for Shadow and me both.”

They laughed watching Shadow knock down books and pictures on the counter.

“Good job, Shadow,” one said. “But you aren’t supposed to knock down Big Footsie’s picture.”

My third-graders came in for library skills. Shadow, of course, had to help them with their lesson and with picking out books. He got picked up, petted, hugged, kissed and fed treats! So many treats came his way during the morning that by early afternoon he just looked at those offered to him and walked away.

“Books Before Cats,” I reminded my elementary kids. “Remember our rule?”

They did, but we all decided we could bend the rule just a bit for such an auspicious occasion.

Most who came in signed a “Welcome Back, Barney and Shadow” bulletin board.

“I love you Shadow and Barney. I missed you.”  “Welcome back. I missed you guys.”

“I am very happy to see you. I love you, Shadow.” And from one of every library cat’s favorite people, our instrumental music teacher, “Welcome Bach!”

Shadow’s buddy Trinity, one of my seniors, came for a visit. “Ms. Loesch,” she said, looking at Shadow’s new bandana, “Those are D-O-G paw prints on there.”

“No they aren’t,” I told her, “they are cats.”

Not at all convinced, Trinity continued, “Last year you put him in PINK and this year D-O-G prints! Poor Shadow.”

Some things are so normal-feeling that you have to smile.

The cats are back. The kids are happy. Shadow is happy, and so will Barney be. I’ll still hear about it if the kids don’t think their bandanas are just right. The kids will still say “Good job!” when the cats knock things down, which we started years ago with Footsie.

Sometimes you just feel like all is right with the world!

SUSAN LOESCH

Faith and begorrah, St. Patrick’s Day has come again! Time for the wearin’ of the green, whether you have two legs or four.

After reading that there would be a parade at Happy Hour in the Heights, Mr. O’Shadow suggested we catify the celebration. His plans were big: He’d be met by Feline Rescue and Rehome PR Kitty Bob
and his mom, Ms. Moira, and handsome orange tabby, Pumpkin, and his parents, Mr. Bob and Ms. Lanita.

We’d all join the parade and declare St. Patrick’s Day to now be renamed St. Catrick’s Day. It sounded like a good plan to us humans. The first sign that things might not go exactly as expected came when Bob, usually ready for a walk whenever he gets the chance, decided upon arrival that he didn’t want to participate.

Not only that, he didn’t want to even leave his carrier. He told Ms. Moira, “No,” and not in the sweetest tone-of-meow.

So Shadow and I set out to our meeting place to wait for Pumpkin and his family. I put Shadow’s shamrock bandana on, a bandana steeped in as much tradition as the Blarney Stone. It had been proudly worn by Big Footsie and Alex before him. He sat in his carrier and looked around, taking it all in, before deciding to get out.

Still no Pumpkin, so we headed up to Kavanaugh for the parade, the parade that was now over.

Not to be deterred, Shadow created his own meet and greet. He posed with a group of kids who’d been in the parade. He met a number of dogs who were more interested in him than he was in them. He took a rest on top of festive green-and-white decorations.

Then he spotted Sarah and Sophia, two delightful 3-year-old twins who petted and petted him.

When we left them to head down the street, one of the girls called, “Shadow, are you coming back?”

I think he’d like to have just stayed there, soaking up all the attention.

We finally located Pumpkin and his family, or rather Pumpkin’s family. Poor Pumpkin; although he walks on his leash in his neighborhood, the carrier and car  reminded him so much of going to the vet that he decided to stay put.

Shadow and I got in his car and Shadow nosed the carrier door as if to say, “Come on out Pumpkin; it’s fun out here!”

Ms. Lanita had made an awesome green-and-white bandana for both Shadow and Pumpkin.

What a handsome pair they made as Pumpkin came out of his carrier to hang with Shadow. We all had a nice visit before heading home!

As of today, St. Patrick’s Day has become my favorite holiday. Because of our adventure? No, for an even better reason than that.

It was this St. Pat’s Day that my students and I learned that our library cats will be allowed back on campus for one day a week after a 7 month hiatus.

After I got the news in the morning, it spread like wildfire among my students. Talk about a celebration! There were hugs and high fives and cheers all day long!

My first-graders came for their regular visit that afternoon. They have asked me on a weekly basis when we would have cats again. Finally, I was able to give them an answer.

My little group began to dance around the library, wave their arms above their heads and sing, “We’re gonna have our cats; we’re gonna have our cats!”

They perfectly expressed what many of us feel, and my seniors are thrilled that, after growing up with Big Footsie and Alex, and being without a library cat this year, they will end their senior year in the company of Barney and Shadow.

I am pretty happy myself!

SUSAN LOESCH

On a dreary, rainy late winter afternoon, what could be better than shopping to lift your spirits? How about shopping and a reunion with a really good friend? A surprise reunion for Barney!

Barney and I headed to Petco with a specific purchase in mind, a new water dispenser. A really BIG one, so that mom doesn’t have to fill water bowls every time she turns around!

We went armed with a gift card we got at Christmas, but I made sure I had my checkbook, too. When I shop with the kitties we always go a little bit beyond the gift cards.

We met the Petco employees and they petted and held Barney. He didn’t stay held for long, though; he was ready to  explore.

Off headed Barney on his leash. We stopped at the treats, and he picked out some. And we added a catnip plant to the basket.

And then Barney got his surprise, a reunion with one of my senior students, Trinity, and her grandmother, Ms. Gail! Trin has been my student since kindergarten, and she grew up with Big Footsie and Alex. She and Ms. Gail have always loved the library cats, and it has been hard for us all since the program was canceled.

Barney obviously remembered them both and was so glad to see them. He head-butted them and rubbed against their legs, and then he and Trin set off to walk up and down the aisles. It was Barney who led the way, of course.

He inspected the cat furniture and the food and the pet clothes. He kept coming back to the clothes, rubbing up against some pink dresses and shirts.

“Barney, do you want a pink dress?” Trinity asked him.
“Rahrr,” said Barney. “How about this little sailor t-shirt?”

“Rahrr.”

Trinity pointed out the ferrets and the birds, but Barney wasn’t interested. Ms. Gail held him up to see some fish. He watched them swim for a minute and then got down.

What DID Barney want to do? He wanted to hang with his buddy, Trinity, and walk around.

“Barney, do you want to exercise?” asked Trinity.

A little happier sounding “Rahrr” came this time. So walk they did, all over the store, back and forth, up and down the aisles.

We met a little girl named Belle, who was afraid of cats.

After a few minutes of talking to her and telling her how much Barney loves kids, she actually petted him!

Trinity and I looked at each other and gave a thumbs up. We’ve seen that happen before, with students at school who thought they were afraid until they met our library cats.

“May I take your picture, Belle?” I asked.

“No,” she said. She didn’t like pictures!

I showed Trinity and Gail the treats we had picked out. One kind is called Fit-Nip and “helps encourage older and inactive cats to exercise and play.”

“Boy, Ms. Loesch, you must have given Barney some of these before I got here!”

Finally, Barney had to get back in his carrier so we could leave. As I zipped up, though, out popped his head for just one more good-bye pet from Trinity.

Such fun we had! As we left, I think Barney’s smile was bigger than all of ours’ put together!

Oh, and, yes, I did have to break out my checkbook!

SUSAN LOESCH

As our fall semester gets underway I thought it might be fun to tell you how our Library Cat Program got its start. To do that you have to meet Piper, a bobtail orange tabby who has just had his 10th birthday.

Piper came into my life in September, 2000, when he was just 5 weeks old. He had been
found in a drainpipe at a big grocery store; someone heard him crying. He was rescued by Care for Animals, and they asked me to foster him.

Oh, my goodness, did I fall in love with him! The first thing this little ball of fluff did was cuddle up under my chin and nurse on my neck. To this day he still does that, especially when he is nervous.

He began coming to school with me and seemed to enjoy it.

We began to connect our Library Cat Program with the new Accelerated Reader program. Our first “prize books” were called Piper‟s Picks.

Everyone loved to feed Piper chicken, his favorite food, especially baby food chicken.

He enjoyed his first Halloween with the students and at Christmas had his picture taken with Santa for the first time.

He had his favorite kids, most of whom have now graduated from high school. One of
his favorites was Harry, who earned the very first AR reading poster. He posed with
Piper for a sign that said, “Piper and Harry say, ‘Reading is Happy!’ ”

He also accompanied Jasmine to the Art Room where they posed as living models for a drawing class.

In the late spring of 2001, Big Footsie came into our lives, and it was obvious that he had all the traits of a great library cat. In the fall of 2001, both Footsie and Piper came to school, and Piper showed Footsie the ropes. He got the hang of eating treats — and plants
— really fast.

Piper and Footsie led our elementary kids to a fun “Rally Round the Sign” when our
school sign said “Home of Piper and Big Footsie, Only Library Cats In Arkansas.” We all
hiked down to the sign and took lots of pictures.

Not long into the year we had a huge first birthday party for Piper in the library. He had such a good time, but already Footsie was showing signs of taking over. … He opened a
huge bag of cat food which had been a gift to Piper and began to eat it!

As time went by, Piper let us know that he was more of a homebody than a working cat.

The job he really wanted was greeting me when I got home from school and washing my face as he purred a welcome.

Footsie, on the other hand, was more career-oriented, so he moved into the Head Library Cat position, and Piper became our Head Library Cat Emeritus.

Our kids still know Piper and ask for him to visit, so he comes a few times a year. He is always there for our Library Cat Christmas, a whole school party which all the library cat
staff attends.

Piper usually spends that day curled up in my office bathroom sink! He receives visitors there, and everyone knows where to go to see him.

At the end of the party day, most of the library cats are tired and sleepy, but not Piper. He has rested all day and is ready to play when he gets home!

Now Piper spends his days snoozing, hanging out with his buddies and greeting me every
afternoon with heartwarming enthusiasm. He continues to be my “soul-mate kitty.”

Piper wasn’t our Head Library Cat for very long, but he laid the foundation for the whole program. And what a great job he did!

SUSAN LOESCH

Here we are back at school; it’s Registration Day, when the kids come back. I remember this day last year, Alex with me, bad news about Footsie to deliver to the kids. I wondered if we would make it through the year.

Make it we did, even with Alex’s sudden death, and now a new year begins.

Shadow, Barney, Hexie and Tank will share Library Cat duties, with Shadow and Barney as co-Head
Library Cats.

They all got plenty of work experience with our weekly field trips during the summer.

Shadow was here with me the week the staff had meetings, and he has had a ball!

Lots of staff members have come by to say hello to him, and he has been at his charming best as he greeted them!

Mail continues to come in during the summer, so the library is always piled high when I come back in August. To Shadow this made for a wonderful playground, boxes stacked on the front desk so high that he could go face-to-face with the great white shark model some of the kids created in
art years ago. It will “swim” in the air over the desk until the day I retire and then it will “dive.”

Shadow met his good friend, our instrumental music director, with enthusiasm.

I think they were both smiling as Shadow rolled and head-butted as he was petted. Mr. G. pronounced him very Footsie-esque, which is a big compliment. His Footsie traits include not only the good things but some not so good!

One of the first things Shadow did was go for the Styrofoam cup full of coffee on my desk and knock it over. That got the cup out of his way so he could roll on the desk and my keyboard!

When one of our mobility instructors, Ms. Pam, came in, he was ready to play and rolled and played with her hand.

She brings her mobility students to the library, and they get some kitty time as part of their lessons.

Our English teacher, Ms. Cynda, had ordered lots of books for her students and she came up to see what we had gotten in.

Shadow helped her unpack the boxes and look through the books.

We all think the kids will be excited with the new reading material.

Every time I left the library, Shadow sat looking at the door, talking.

When I would come back, there he was, watching for me.

He was probably thinking, “Come on back, Mom, we have work to do to get ready for our kids!”

It won’t be long; another year of adventures is about to begin.

SUSAN LOESCH

For our last field trip of the summer, Shadow and I planned something which was sure to get us in the mood for school. We went to WordsWorth Books in Pulaski Heights to pick out a book for our first story hours of the year.

WordsWorth is Little Rock’s largest independent bookstore. In addition to the latest bestsellers, they carry many first editions and local-interest books. We also found calendars, candles, soaps, note cards, games and puzzles. I have always loved going in this store because it has such a cozy, almost old-fashioned feel.

We were welcomed by owner Jean Cazort.

Shadow was on his leash, and Ms. Hannah came with us to help keep him out of trouble!

Three seconds into the visit and he was comfortable, roaming the store like he was a regular shopper there.

He checked out the bestsellers and then picked out a book by my favorite author, Janet Evanovich.

All of a sudden, he got down from the shelf and began to walk faster toward the back of the store.

We followed him and found what had caught his interest: a cage full of beautiful finches. He definitely wanted to stay and watch them a while!

We worked our way to the children’s books and found many cat books that were new to us.

Shadow’s favorite seemed to be Ursula LeGuin’s Cat Dreams.

“Oh, how nice, it’s raining mice. Oh, happy day, all the dogs have run away.” I liked it, too, but we found another one better for reading in a story hour: Minifred Goes to School, by Mordicai Gerstein. Minifred, of course, is a cat!

As customers came in, Shadow was the center of attention, just like he is at school. He got lots of pets and then, much to his pleasure, in came a little girl named Grace. Shadow was in his element! Books and kids; this is his kind of store.

Grace wanted to feed him some treats, and she offered each one to him, held between her tiny fingers. Shadow ever so gently took them from her, never once letting his teeth catch her fingers.

Every time he took one and ate it, Grace told him, “Thank you.”

We looked at all the great black cat Halloween items that had come in, and we picked out a black cat ornament to remind us of our fun visit.

Shadow had to try out every chair and bench in the store, stretching out for a while to test its comfort level. He liked every single one, and I think if we had had enough time he would have nap-tested them.

After Grace fed Shadow treats and we moved to another part of the store, we put his package of treats up on a shelf. They proved irresistible, and, when we looked up, there he was with his head buried in the treat bag! Guess he thought that after being so good he deserved more treats; I agreed with him on that.

We headed back to the counter to pay for our treasures, and Shadow made one last selection. He found a great night shirt with the caption “She Who Sleeps With Cats.” That was something both of us could enjoy; I will sleep in it, and he will sleep on it.

This was a great way to end our summer field trips, and we both are looking forward to seeing our kids again and reading to them.

I think they will really like Minifred Goes to School. It sneaks in the lesson that everyone who goes to school has to obey the rules, even cats. But just like at our school, the kitty rules are a little bit different. At the end of the list of rules, way down at the bottom of the page, in small but still very clear print is this: “* Except kittens, who must do exactly as they like.” Definitely like the rules at our school.

Be sure to check out WordsWorth’s web site, www.wordsworthbooks.org, or even better, stop by the store at 5920 R St. in the Heights. You won’t want to leave.