The Problem with Pierre

C.K. Smouha , Suzanna Hubbard (Illustrator)

A fussy cat ruffles the feathers of two neighbours who couldn’t be more different...

Alan and Betram are next-door neighbours. They are also best friends. They are also very, very different to one another. Bertram is extremely neat, and Alan is wildly messy. When Bertram gets a cat, called Pierre, he is dismayed to find that Pierre prefers it at Alan’s house.

Alan tries to help his friend out – giving him his old sheepskin coat, his chipped bowl and finally, his beat up old sofa. At last, Pierre and Bertram are happy, but Alan is not – he has no company and no sofa. Fortunately, Bertram comes up with a brilliant solution to the problem...

The Problem With Pierre plays with the format of the book, the gutter acting as the dividing wall between the two neighbours’ contrasting living rooms. A twist at the end brings together form and content in a way that is sure to delight readers young and old.