I Like Cheese! (Kat & Mouse #1)

This retro-style early reader comic, a series kickoff from Yoon (Kiki & Jax), centers on the lunchtime bond of pals Kat and Mouse. While bow-sporting Kat brings an elaborate sandwich each day, and varied seating to boot, reliable Mouse carries the same lunch box, sits on the same log, and eats the same thing: cheese. The bespectacled rodent is wild about the stuff, describing one meal as “sweet and savory, but still mild, with a hint of nuttiness.” But Kat’s variable feasts leave Mouse wondering whether the cat ever gets bored with Mouse’s staples—or with Mouse. Acknowledging their differences, Kat suggests they take a beat and try having lunch apart. Happily, distance makes the heart grow fonder (Kat, who enjoys a hot dog upon a rocking horse, has “the worst, most boring-est lunch EVER,” while Mouse cries into a wedge of blue), and Mouse soon concocts a cheese-sandwich mash-up that pleases them both. An easy-to-follow plot leaves plenty of space for early readers to decipher the punny text (“PURR-fection” describes Kat’s stack of BLTs), while pop art vibes drive the visuals in this straightforward work. Ages 5–7. Agent: Jamie Weiss Chilton, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)