The Underneath is a children's book by Kathi Appelt. It tells the story of an abandoned cat who goes to live with a maltreated hound dog underneath a crooked old house in a bayou on the border between Louisiana and Texas. Published in 2008, The Underneath is a John Newbery Honor book, ALA Notable Children's Book and a National Book Award Finalist. Concept and development The novel originally started as a short story about a boy, a cat, and a shard of Caddo pottery. Her agent encouraged Appelt to expand the story to a novel instead. The plot soon changed to focus on the cat instead and the boy disappeared from the plot. Appelt ended up drawing inspiration from the setting of the bayou itself, as well as some inspiration from Caddo legends, who lived in that region. She admitted that the creation of the character Grandmother Moccasin may have been driven by her fear of snakes. Appelt also stated that she drew inspiration from The Jungle Book, not for its plot but for its themes and how it tackled ideas that you wouldn't expect from a children's book. Plot The story takes place underneath a ramshackle house, in the bayou near the Texas-Louisiana border. The hound dog, Ranger, is chained under the porch. Ever since his leg was shot accidentally by his evil owner, Gar Face, Ranger has been chained up to serve only as a warning system. Ranger meets a calico cat who has kittens, and he names the kittens "Sabine" and "Puck". The kittens are told to never leave the underside of the porch, otherwise Gar Face might use them as alligator bait. One day, Puck accidentally leaves the safety of the porch and is caught by Gar Face. While trying to protect Puck, the calico is also caught. Gar Face throws the two into a bag, which he then throws into the river. Although Puck is saved, the mother drowns trying to help him. She encounters a hummingbird, who are known to accompany the spirits of the dead to the other side. Puck later wanders off and ends up lost. The book also introduces Grandmother Moccasin, who in this story is portrayed as a water moccasin lamia. When her daughter Night Song changes form to marry Hawk Man, Grandmother feels betrayed and tricks her daughter into changing back into a serpent, since magical creatures who return