Sigrid Laube (Text) Silke Leffler (Illustrations) Freunde lässt man nicht im Stich (Friends Stick Together) Annette Betz Verlag, July 2003. 32 pp. ISBN 3-219-11098-3 Antonia believes that friends should stick together, so when her cat disappears she loses no time in setting off to find him. She looks in the tree, in the gutter under the roof, and even under the ironing board. No luck. So she asks her parents and her grandma. 'Perhaps she's chasing mice in the cellar', suggests Mum. 'Or sleeping in the loft', chimes in Dad. 'Or maybe she's gone up to the sky', says Grandma. 'I'm going to look for her', Antonia replies. And off she goes. She meets a bird, but he doesn't even answer her question. She asks the man who polishes the sun. She asks the wind's wife. And then she asks the wind-catcher himself. The wind-catcher has a hat like a windsock. It's a very smart hat, made up of red and white stripes, but the wind-catcher keeps the wind somewhere else -- in a very large bag. He's a helpful wind-catcher, and he looks in the bag to see if the cat is hiding in it, but there's no sign of her there. So what about the lightening-thrower? He hasn't seen the cat either. He just wants to know if Antonia can make a sound like thunder. And so it goes on, until daylight fades, dusk follows behind, the stars and the moon come out, and Antonia has to go home. And there is the cat, lying in front of the kitchen door. 'I was hunting mice', she explains. 'Then you had vanished, and I thought something must have happened to you. So I went looking for you. Friends should stick together.' This is a charming tale for four-year-olds and upwards, with witty and quirky illustrations that are colourful and imaginative enough to appeal to children anywhere. There are figures of all shapes and sizes, garments to match, and a night sky to dream about. Cloud Nine, in every sense.