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)