"Truffle, a small dog, was born and raised on a farm, where he was put in charge of keeping the rats out of the barn, and the badgers out of the fields. Truffle enjoyed his work, and he took pride in doing it well. The only difficulty he had was with cats. Nothing irritated Truffle more than the sight of a cat sleeping on the job while the mice ate their fill in the corncrib. Truffle would howl loudly, waking the cat, which then would dash off with Truffle close behind! He never actually caught the cat, and he would not harm it if he did. It was all about the chase. Truffle enjoyed his work, but he felt that something was missing in his life. So, he left the farm to search for those missing pieces"--

David McPhail is a beloved author-illustrator of many books for children including best-sellingpicture books, board books, and novelty books. He received a New York Times Best IllustratedBooks honor for Edward and the Pirates. He has also received a Boston Globe- Horn Bookhonor, a Children's Choice Award, a Parents' Choice Award, a Children's Booksellers ChoicesAward, a Best Books of the Year award from Publisher's Weekly for Mole Music, and manystate awards. He lives near the sea in New Hampshire with his wife Jan Waldron.