WHEN BRIAN MET TERRY

Actor/comedian Kane and illustrator Salcedo once more collaborate on a pet-themed picture book.

Terry, the beautiful blue-eyed Burmese cat, is a bit of a bully, demanding that his “hairless,” pale-skinned family (“Meow-mmy,” Daddy, and Minna) constantly meet his need to be “worshipped, pampered, waited on, and adored.” When Daddy announces that the family is welcoming a newcomer, Terry’s initially unbothered; after all, he already coexists with ragdoll Bobbins, “a bulging piece of chilled-out cotton wool.” A baby would just mean “another human to adore him!” But the new arrival is a puppy. Terry’s shock is electric: He simultaneously faints and farts. Fearing replacement, he plots to show the interloper who’s in charge. Brian the Chihuahua maintains a relentlessly positive attitude to Terry, and the pooch’s “love-heart laser eyes” endear him to his human family. Terry’s furious envy prompts a revenge poop on Daddy’s pillow. Terry’s tantrums escalate until his family takes him to the vet, who announces that he’s “just a bit…well, worried.” But the pup’s laser eyes gradually work on Terry, and the cat tolerates, and then accepts, Brian, who, as it turns out, is just one more family member willing to shower him with love. Salcedo’s brightly colored cartoon art contributes to the major comedy factors, like the quasi-human expressions on Terry’s face, and minor touches, like Brian briefly seizing Terry’s toy fish and cameos from Bobbin, a motionless lump in the background.

A funny but meaningful parable of adjustment and acceptance.