Here Comes the Cat!

Here Comes the Cat! (Сюда идёт кот!) is a 1989 children's picture book by Frank Asch and Vladimir Vagin, published by Scholastic. Written in both English and Russian, it tells of a settlement of mice threatened by the ominous shadow of a big cat. Reviews were generally positive.

Plot
A mouse in a hot-air balloon sees the large shadow of a cat and proceeds to warn other mice that the cat is coming. Some of these mice then go off to warn others as well. While warning mice on a beach, the original mouse's hot air balloon gets struck by lightning, sending him into the water below. He still proceeds to warn creatures that the cat is coming, one of them being a large fish who carries the mouse to a nearby town. The mouse races through town, telling people that "Here comes the cat!". They race behind him, worriedly repeating his message and soon gathering into a large crowd. The cat's shadow looms over them but it is revealed that the cat is not there to eat the mice, but has instead brought a large wheel of cheese for them to enjoy. After the mice eat the cheese, the cat sets off into the horizon, the original mouse riding atop it.

Style
Asch's text is in speech balloons, with English above and Russian below divided by a horizontal line.

Background
Author Asch and illustrator Vagin began work on Here Comes the Cat! in 1986 after they attended a Soviet-American children's-literature symposium; Asch based the manuscript on a dream he had afterward. "Relying on translators and couriers to shuttle notes and sketches halfway around the world," The New York Times Book Review reported in 1989, "the two artists [overcame the language barrier and] produced what they say is the first book designed by an American and painted by a Russian." They would later collaborate on other books, including Dear Brother (1992).

Thematic analysis
Judith Gloyer of the School Library Journal wrote, "Workable as a comic-twist story, [Here Comes the Cat!] could also be used as a vehicle to awaken children to such issues as prejudice, intolerance, cold wars, or world peace."

Reception
Although concerned about Asch's several English misspellings, Gloyer gave the book a positive review in the SLJ. "Tiny details in the pictures and word balloons," she said, "make this better for one-on-one sharing than for group study sessions." The New York Times Book Review was less enthusiastic: "Besides the symbolism inherent in the cooperative spirit of the project," said reviewer Arthyr Yorinks, "the work that might result from this kind of cross-pollination could be simply wonderful. I sadly emphasize 'could be,' for 'Here Comes the Cat!' is large on symbolism but lacking in wonder."

Animated short
In 1992, Weston Woods Studios adapted Here Comes the Cat! as a ten-minute animated short.