Both Sides Now: Yes & No by Elisha Cooper

GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!

MY DEARS, ARE YOU AWAKE?

A new owner has two new pets--a dog and a cat--hoping that they will be good company for each other.... But little does she know that dogs and cats don't exactly have compatible.. er,.... world views.

Their answers? "YES!" AND "NO."

The pup bounces up, full of vim and vigor for the new day! The cat lolls, eyes still closed, on their rug.

The little doggie can't wait to begin. The cat says "HMPFF!" So the puppy grabs the rug in mouth and drags it out from under the cat. Now she's up!

The pup is SO up for his breakfast kibble. The cat eschews her cat crunchies and stalks away, nose in the air.

It a work day for the new pet owner, who has hopes the dog and cat will amuse each other. The cat flees to a table, imperiling a lamp, and then to the mantel, bringing down some books, and dashes for the sanctuary of the bathtub. The owner decides that perhaps it's a perfect day for playing outside.

"YES!" "YES!" "YES!" SAYS THE POOCH.

He rips and romps and chases his tail, while the cat walks the fence, finally leaping to a tree branch, above it all.

The dog gnaws a gardening boot, pulls the laundry down off the clothesline, and chases a bunny into its hole, where he begins a grand excavation in the lawn, while the cat naps well above the fray on his trusty branch.

"ENOUGH!" SHOUTS THE DISGRUNTLED OWNER"

BOTH OF YOU! GO!

Sadly the exiles climb to the top of the hill behind their house. The two outcasts sit together as the sun drops lower in the sky. At least they have each other.

Finally the owner calls them in, offering cat chow and doggie dinner.

WELL, OKAY....

"DID YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY?" SHE ASKS.

"YES AND NO. THE DAY WAS GOOD,"

"BUT NOW IT'S DONE." THINKS THE POOCH.

But there's always tomorrow, in Elisha Cooper's little menage a trois, Yes And No (Roaring Brook Press, 2021). And in the Caldecott-Award-winning author-illustrator's latest, where, as the owner wishes them good night, the dog begins to snooze immediately, while the cat--who marches to a different drummer--whispers "NO!" as he slips out the window into the night.

As Publisher's Weekly puts it in their starred review, "Sweetly comic . . . this sustained conversation offers giggles, reassurance, and warmth. Readers may even recognize themselves in a certain hound’s bedtime reluctance to say goodbye to the day’s pleasures.”