It's the Thought! The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

IT WAS A SPECIAL DAY, AND MOOCH WANTED TO GIVE HIS BEST FRIEND, EARL, A GIFT.

BUT WHAT TO GIVE HIM? HE HAD A BOWL. HE HAD A BED. HE HAD CHEWY TOYS.

HE HAD IT ALL.

What to give a dog who has it all? Mooch the cat is stumped. His friend deserves something special. But what something?

Wait! Everyone gives everybody something. Maybe the best thing he can give him is--NOTHING! But where can you go for nothing?

Then Millie comes home from a shopping expedition tired and dispirited. "There's nothing to buy! she complains loudly.

Aha! Now Mooch knows where to look for this illusive nothing! It's off to the stores, where he sees many, many, many, somethings, some already wrapped in bright red bows for gift giving--but no nothings to buy. Finally, Mooch has to give up and repair to his favorite pillow for a refreshing nap.

And suddenly the answer come to him. Mooch finds a small box for Earl's gift, but is a bit underwhelmed with its presentation. "Hmmm... Maybe Earl deserves more than this," he muses, fetching a bigger box. "Now, that's plenty of nothing!"

Earl is impressed with the brightly beribboned box, but he is understandably perplexed when he opens Mooch's gift--and find NOTHING inside.

"Nothing but you and me!" says Mooch with a hug.

Patrick McDonnell sets his popular cartoon characters in a minimalist setting, black line drawings touched with small accents in red to work out his theme that it's the thought behind a friend's gift that means so much. It's a good theme for the holiday season, birthdays, and any time, and McDonnell's perennially popular The Gift of Nothing makes the point with a spare minimum of fuss!