Mr. Purr

Mr. Purr is an old cat, living in peace with his family, loved and appreciated and comfortable. One day, Mr. Purr lies down in his basket to sleep purring the distinctive purr that gave him his name. But every ending is a new beginning and so we are pulled away to a village, where a very surprising thing has happened: One of the dog has given birth to a litter of puppies. And one of the puppies is different, special, with a very distinctive purr.

Accompanied by sweet and tender black and white illustrations, Mr. Purr is a small story full of large concepts and the only purring dog in the world.

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Extended summary:

Mr Purr is a different kind of children’s story, and one that will touch and affect all its readers. We first see Mr Purr as an old cat, living in peace with his family, loved and appreciated and comfortable. But he is old and so the narrative starts in a somewhat somber manner as Mr Purr lies down in his basket to sleep, perhaps for the last time, purring the distinctive purr that gave him his name.

But every ending is a new beginning and so we are pulled away to a village, far from the city, when a very surprising thing has happened! One of the dog has given birth to a litter of puppies. That by itself is not a noteworthy event but one of the puppies is different, special. It looks like a dog but it washes itself like a cat and, more importantly, it purrs! A very distinctive purr. A variety of animals testify to this, and ask that the small creature leaves their village, afraid that the small puppy might be in some way contagious. His mother tries to keep him close to her but to no avail, and soon our puppy starts out on a dangerous and lonely journey that leads him to the big city.

Helped by kind strangers, chased away by unkind dogs, the puppy will eventually find its way back home to Mr Purr’s family in a heart-warming finale that echoes one of the book’s opening scenes beautifully. Accompanied by comic artist Tomek’s tender black and white illustrations, Mr Purr is a small story full of large concepts and the only dog in the entire world that purrs like a cat.