THE PROBLEM WITH PIERRE

In this British import, brown-skinned, bespectacled Bertram is a tidy minimalist while Alan, a White, wild-haired redhead, prefers a comfortable mess. Bertram acquires Pierre, a cat with a haughty air, to add warmth to his rather stark home. He provides Pierre with both a fancy cat bed and meals in a fine china bowl, but Pierre spurns them—he even refuses to sit on the elegant sofa. In fact, the cat spends most of the time at Alan’s home, where he eats scraps from an old bowl, naps on an old soft coat, and cuddles next to Alan on his beat-up sofa. Understanding how his friend feels about his cat’s defection, Alan urges him to borrow the coat and the bowl. Pierre now spends his days with Bertram, but evenings are still spent with Alan on his sofa. So generous Alan lends Bertram his sofa, and all is well at Bertram’s. But now Alan is uneasy in his changed space. This time it is Bertram who has the generous solution. A wall is demolished, furniture is merged, and the friends join their homes. Smouha writes straightforwardly and empathetically in this tale of a strong friendship between two dissimilar men who respect and care for each other. Text is set within white spaces in Hubbard’s bright, detailed cartoons, which vary among vignettes and single- and double-page spreads. Depicted only in the illustrations and never discussed, race is merely one aspect of the characters’ quirky, eccentric personalities. Readers will cheer the outcome and root for this odd couple’s continued contentment.

Engaging, charming, and tender.