A puppy named Poky and a hamster named Charlie are the main characters in this mildly entertaining mid-level easy reader. The story is divided into four short chapters with a small mystery or problem to solve in each. Poky, a beagle puppy, moves to a new house where he befriends a hamster left behind by the previous owners. Poky and Charlie become friends as they roam the house at night, and they get into several mild scrapes keeping Charlie out of mouse traps and provided with food until the resident humans catch the action on videotape. Finally, they adopt Charlie as the second pet of the family, with his own hamster cage and food. The plot isn’t terribly inventive, though Poky and Charlie are amusingly innocent in their lack of understanding of household conventions. The overall effort is extended by Björkman’s winsome watercolors, with a flowing, loose style and humorous expressions on the animal characters’ faces. (Easy reader. 5-7)
