A quirky, warm, funny illustrated chapter book chronicles the friendship between Barker the dog and Purdy the cat. Each entertaining episode relates an incident that establishes and expands readers’ understanding of their individual characters and their relationship. Some differences are playfully grounded in animal behavior and stereotypes: Barker is more active during the day, Purdy at night; Barker is a responsible doer while, Purdy, at least initially, seems lazy and somewhat selfish. But Purdy turns out to be a planner and a dreamer, and if his plans sometimes overreach, all that quiet time can serve a real purpose, as on the day he’s seemingly doing nothing only to finally come up with the beginnings of a song that he was thinking about all along. The satisfying stories, ranging from the absurd (attempting to fly to the moon) to the tender, often end with an additional punch of wry humor, and if the two friends seem like opposites, it’s clear their bond is deep and true in a great read-aloud or independent reading choice. (Ages 6–9)

Purdy the cat and Barker the dog live together in a sky-blue house on a hill. But while the two friends share a house, they are as different as cat and dog can be. Purdy has big dreams, while Barker likes to putter in the garden. Purdy likes to eat fish, but it is Barker who must scoop them from the lake for dinner. Their days together bring quarrels, contradictions, and craziness--a cat with so many ideas needs a dog with a lot of patience if friendship is to win out in the end.

These captivating and very funny characters romp through a warm and busy story from Finland's number-one children's author.