Lilly's secret - Miko Imai

Lilly is a little cat who lives in a little house in a little town. She's quite happy until, one afternoon, her new neighbour Coco drops by and remarks, rather unkindly, on the strangeness of Lilly's paws. Poor Lilly is very upset. No one has ever said anything about her paws before and suddenly they seem very odd and ugly with their funny little thumbs. Her special friend, Joey, comes round and asks her to go for a walk. But how can she hide her paws? She tries to cover them with wool, ribbon, cloth and socks, she even hides them behind her back and won't take Joey's paw. When she sees Coco approaching, Lilly can bear it no more. Sure that Coco has told the other cats her "secret", Lilly runs away as fast as she can. But Joey runs just as quickly after her. "What's the matter?" he asks and, tearfully, Lilly explains. "Don't be silly, Lilly!" says Joey. "I've always known about your funny paws. I like them." Besides, he adds, as they sit next to each other on a wall in the moonlight, Lilly never said anything about his crooked tail!;Miko Imai has written and illustrated one other children's book, "Little Lumpty".