When Simon arrives late for school, he avoids a bludgeoning with his mean-hearted teacher's phonebook by sneaking up to the school roof with his talking, impossibly long-tailed cat, Jack. There they find a stairway leading up, and there their adventures begin.

Written and drawn by Jordan Crane, The Clouds Above is a delightful little tale that children and adults alike can enjoy. As they mount the stairs into ever-increasing altitudes, the boy and cat encounter nasty yellow birds and a very friendly, although sad, little cloud. They rumble with a thundering herd of storm clouds and flop into the soggy saltpatch flats. They fly and they fall -- although, given the scariness of the great heights they've scaled, let's just call it autumn, instead.

The Clouds Above is a cute, quick read; although more than 200 pages long, each page has only a single cartoon panel, often with little or no dialogue. The "terribly terrific and tremendously true travels of Simon and Jack" are easily absorbed in one sitting.