Tom's dad is very ill. He is not going to get better, and there is growing inside Tom a hard ice ball, as cold as the snowy world that has suddenly appeared outside. In his anger, Tom refuses to build a snowman with Gary and his dad, who live next door, but instead makes an ice cat - a menacing creature with glittering eyes. After a night of bad dreams, when the ice cat seems to come alive, Tom destroys both Gary's snowman and his own ice cat. Tom's dad makes him understand about his anger when he explains to Tom about his own anger on discovering how serious his illness was. He will still be Tom's dad through good days and bad ones, and there will be some good times together in the future. Tom feels his inner ice ball beginning to melt, and he and Gary make another ice cat in the garden, a cuddly one this time. Short, easily read book. Excellent, expressive line drawings.