| Socks is the name of the newest character to be
created by Beverly Cleary. He is a young tabby cat with four white
paws, and he lives happily with a young married couple, Marilyn and
Bill Bricker. The center of the Bricker household, Socks rules it
affectionately but firmly.
Into this loving home, however, comes another pet. This creature
has a small, wrinkled, furless face, and Mr. and Mrs. Bricker spend
an inordinate amount of time trying to burp it. Its arrival fills
Socks with jealousy and a terrible anxiety. How the rivalry between
Socks and Charles William, the Bricker baby, turns into an alliance
makes a domestic drama both touching and funny.
Although her story is about a cat and faithful to his point of
view in every detail, Mrs. Cleary demonstrates with it the emotional
upheaval experienced by a child who must learn to share his parents.
As young readers come to understand Socks and his problems, they
will gain a new understanding of themselves. But, most of all, they
will laugh.
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