arts and music

Manders energetic and humorous paintings enliven a long-time favorite of Spanish-language audiences for a new generation of English-speaking children. It opens:

Oh, Senor Don Gato was a cat.
On a high red roof Don Gato sat.
He went there to read a letter,
Where the reading light was better
'Twas a love note for Don Gato.

Manders depicts the portly gentleman perched on a chair on a steep tile roof, sipping from a teacup and drinking in the words of a sweet lady cat, who assents to wed him.

Alas, or more appropriately, "Ayyy-Caramba!!!" Don Gato takes a tall tumble, and "in spite of everything the doctors tried, poor Don Gato up and died." A rare occurrence on the way to the cemetery, however, provides Don Gato with, if not eight additional lives, at least one more opportunity for happiness with his lovely betrothed.

Using a palette rich in red, gold and brown tones, Manders evokes a Spanish colonial town, with church tower and balconied homes lining narrow cobblestone streets-all timelessly tucked away in sun-drenched hills.

Manders uses the long-known English translation, with its spry rhyme and clever lyrics, loosely based upon the traditional Mexican song. Unfortunately, the authorship of both the original and the translation have been lost to history.