A Touching Introduction to Mr. Putter and Tabby

A couple days ago, I was thrilled when LOST formally introduced us to the mysterious man who appeared on a television screen in one of the hatches wearing an eye patch. We learned many things about this ominous Russian recluse; one was that he had a cat. A very old female cat, just like Mr. Putter does.

In Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea, written by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Henry and Mudge books, and illustrated by Arthur Howard, we meet Mr. Putter for the first time. He does not wear an eye patch, but he does wear glasses. Patchy offers his guests iced tea, while Mr. Putter prefers hot tea fresh from the kettle. He does live alone, but not so much by choice as by chance. Mr. Putter is perhaps a bit shy, but he's not unfriendly, and he's beginning to find his big empty house just a little lonely. He needs someone to share his tea, his muffins and, most importantly, his stories with. He needs a cat.

The set-up of this book is pretty basic, with the three sections entitled Mr. Putter, Tabby and Mr. Putter and Tabby. Mr. Putter may be on his own, but not for long. He's going to change his situation by going to the pet store. Only the pet store has kittens. "No one wants cats, sir," the sales lady explains to him. "They are not cute. They are not peppy." Mr. Putter reflects that he himself "had not been cute and peppy for a long time." He wants a companion a little more suited to his more sedate lifestyle. And at the shelter, he strikes gold with a tawny cat just as creaky as him, staring up at him with pleading eyes to rival the disarming Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.

Rylant and Howard strike gold too in this first achingly tender book in their series. There is no Mrs. Teaberry or Zeke in this book, just two old strangers quickly becoming old friends: puttering around the garden together, eating muffins together (his with jam, hers with cream cheese), yowling along with opera records together... doing everything an aging cat and gentleman might want to do, but together, which makes it so much nicer. It reminds of a story from one of James Herriot's books in which an elderly couple takes in an aging pooch and Herriot cites the Robert Browning lines "Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be."

The best may be yet to be with these two, but with Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea, they sure are off to a great start.