In preparation for buying our house (I promise, I'll stop talking about it soon), Pat and I gave each other housewarming gifts.

I bought him cool octopus plates, which I love because the poor thing looks slightly worried that he's going to be eaten along with the food.

And he got me this gorgeous print by Beth Barker White, whose work you may remember from The Monsters of Templeton.

Notice how the cat in the design closely mirrors my own kitty, Cleo.

Man, she loves staring at the birds -- although I'm pretty sure she'd have no idea what to do with one if she could catch it.

Anyway, I sent Ms. White a quick e-mail to let her know how much I appreciate her art, and the Baltimore native (she attended the Bryn Mawr School) was kind enough to respond.

"I recently did another book that just came out last month called The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate," she said. "It is a children's book that you might like to look for."

So has anyone seen this one on the shelves yet? I'd love to hear what you think of the book, and its cover illustration, of course.