Soon after I was hired for my current job, a basket of kittens arrived in the library.

Not real kittens, no. But they might as well be. This family of cats was unlike any stuffed animal I’d seen before – highly realistic and all lumped together. They all sat in a basket about the size of a dinner plate and looked pretty cozy.

Now, let’s take a moment before I show you a picture of what they look like. I already know what some of you are going to say: creepy. To you I say: get over it.

Kids love them. They pet the cats. They ask if the cats are alive. They continue petting.

Sometimes the cats have helped me. Like when I calmed an on-edge student my sitting with him and naming all the kittens.

Where am I going with this post? I guess to say even if something looks creepy, give it a chance. Someone else might disagree.

Also, the basket of kittens might be magic.