WAFFLES AND JULIUS

Waffles the dog wants to make friends; Julius the cat does not.

Julius, a blue-gray tabby with a grumpy mien, unsurprisingly says no to a hug from Waffles, an excitable yellow pooch with ears as floppy as his tongue. Waffles tries to wait Julius out, but patience isn’t this pooch’s strong suit. His next tactic? Bargaining. Waffles tempts Julius with the kinds of things he (and dogs like him) find irresistible, bringing Julius sticks and serenading the cat with a series of howls. These strategies fail, so Waffles decides to chase Julius. (Feline owners won’t be surprised at how poorly this idea goes.) But once a tired Waffles lies down for a nap—a favored pastime for Julius, too—the cat finally joins the dog on his terms. Vere effectively plays the differences between dogs and cats for laughs; he also smoothly underscores the importance of respecting boundaries and demonstrates that even the best-intentioned among us can fail to truly empathize with our friends. His text is short and accessible for beginning readers, while the art focuses closely on the characters; they’re drawn as expressive cartoon shapes, large and set against mostly plain backgrounds, allowing readers to fill in the gaps and imagine the setting for themselves.

A clever and funny friendship primer.