A girl and her two dads search for their lost cat, Wilhelmina, who got out when the door was left open. The girl’s imagination leads her to worry about a number of “what if” situations that are shown through the illustrations: a truck bearing down on Wilhelmina; an owl grasping for her with its claws; a fearsome dog; a squirrel in boxing gloves, striking at Wilhelmina; a UFO beaming her up. Just as the “what ifs” threaten to overwhelm the girl, Wilhelmina returns. The girl goes to get her a snack, only to realize that she left the window open…. We see Wilhelmina laughing to herself on the last page, as if she enjoys playing this game of hide-and-seek. Children particularly sensitive to animals in harm’s way may be scared by the imagined threats to Wilhelmina, though the point seems to be that we shouldn’t let the “what ifs” get to us, since things have a way of turning out okay.
The story was inspired by the author’s real life with his family. He’s also hidden images of famous art masterpieces on many pages; the publicity material for the book says “Children from ages four to eight and adults will have fun spotting these works of art within the pages.” I can’t imagine, though, that many children of that age will really be able to identify the works of these famous artists (Banksy, Magritte, Munch, Rembrandt, Rodin, Van Gogh, Warhol, and Wyeth). Some parents might enjoy pointing them out to use for further art exploration, however, though this might have made more sense if the plot had some connection to art. (It also would have been nice to see more diversity among the artists whose works are depicted; they’re all White men, except for possibly Banksy, whose real identity is unknown.)
Still, it’s great to see another story about a child with two dads where their family structure is incidental to the plot and not a central part of it.
