"The winter is harsh for a cat who lives in a cardboard box. Clad in a striped sweater, Nina roams through town to keep warm. As snowflakes fall, she walks past festively decorated stores, and neighborly forest animals full of holiday cheer. The down-on-her luck feline doesn't notice that her sweater has completely unraveled until she is shivering. When the last strand of yarn is yanked out of her paws by an unseen force, Nina catches the tail end and follows the red trail. Heikkiläs charming illustrations follow a winding, cat-and-yarn chase around a caroling mouse choir, over rooftops, and through a bustling café. This frenzied journey comes to an end when Nina enters a bookstore and finds Ms. Badger finishing up a knitting project. VERDICT A sweet-natured seasonal story.

"Heikkilä offers a tenderhearted Christmas story with airy images that evoke the feeling of a world in miniature. Nina the cat lives in a cardboard box on a snowy urban street. Though "the floor was icy and cold air came through the door,?? her red sweater is "warm and woolly.?? As she wanders through the townand its plum-colored roofs, smoking chimneys, and behatted animal friends chatting communallyreaders will observe Nina's sweater catching on a branch, then beginning to unravel, leaving behind a trail of yarn. Soon, her belly is cold, and though a mouse tries to alert her to the problem, Nina walks on until there is "only a long strand of yarn left.?? Unbeknownst to the feline, Ms. Badger has been gathering the yarn, and when Nina follows the trail, it leads her to a forever home. Readers may be gently encouraged to exercise generosity with otherswhether they be on two feet or four.

The nicely worded text offers a simple, satisfying story, while the charming, digital illustrations suggest a trace of magic in the air... An inviting picture book with a touch of Christmas cheer.

A warm tale for Christmastime. Nina the cat has a ??house,' which the illustrations depict as a small, cardboard box in an alley. The opening lines tell readers that ??the floor was icy and cold air came through the door.' ' As Nina ventures from her cardboard house, readers will note that a red strand of yarn is trailing from her sweater, unraveling it page after page. She doesn't notice as she traipses by caroling mice and other creatures. By the time she does realize that ??her belly [has] started to get cold,' the yarn is completely unraveled and is ??being pulled away and beginning a journey of its own.' Nina follows in hot pursuit through illustrations that show various perspectives of the city and slapstick scenes of the cat crashing into other animals as she tries to catch the yarn snaking away from her. Then the yarn leads to a bookstore, in which she finds Ms. Badger, humming and knitting in a wingback chair ' Ms. Badger offers her tea, and then with the page turn, the bookstore is named as Nina's new home. A cozy cat tale...