In this volume, Tai-Chan the kitten is always at Sue’s house, so I don’t know what happened with that part where he went back to his original owner? Shrug. On the very first pages, the kitten from last time shows up, and the two start playing wildly. Sue thinks this is her chance to rest, but she can’t completely escape their antics and noise. Only when the kittens collapse to sleep does she get some peace and quiet. It gets hot in the summer, and now the cats are looking for cool places to rest (they end up trying to open the freezer). Tai-Chan struggles when he first has to get his claws trimmed. He’s baffled by the sight of birds on the television that he can’t catch, and likewise objects through the window. He’s terrified by thunderstorms, though Sue tries to assure him it’s okay. The kitten practices sneaking and pouncing some more, and encourages Sue to play hide-and-seek with him, and tag. He goes outside and finds the other kitten again, they explore things. He goes into a neighbor’s house where Fuku Fuku lives (an older cat in this book), and tries to share her food. Back home, Tai-Chan is excited when the owner has sashimi for dinner, and Sue shows him how to effectively beg by looking super cute. Tai-Chan plays with a ribbon, and finds something curious inside a container- when he asks Sue what is is, she investigates and gets her head stuck! This book ends in a cliffhanger- the owner packs to leave for a weekend trip, makes preparations for the cats by setting out extra food and water, but then Sue and Tai-Chan go in the backyard and accidentally get locked outside. They’re stunned and don’t know what to do. I was a tad irked not being able to continue that storyline right away, as my library doesn’t have book 5 yet.
Pages at the back have another little extra, about how the author once trapped a stray injured cat (with help from a volunteer) in order to get it medical care.
Borrowed from the public library.
