Perhaps more than anyone, young children understand the importance, and the basic simplicity, of friendship. Lacking the jobs, financial concerns, and outside interests with which grown-ups tend to fill their lives, children know that friends are what you need to make the world a nicer and more comfortable place. Losing a friend, however, is painful, and avoiding a repetition of that pain can seem all-important.

Author Carolyn Crimi looks at one of the ways in which we try to protect ourselves from hurt and disappointment. Children can readily see that Rat's attempt to deny his need for friends is self-defeating, but they also sympathize with his bluff and are touched when Rat and Dog gain enough trust to reveal (rather backhandedly) the kind hearts beneath their rough exteriors.

Although undeniably sweet, as one six-year-old called the story, it avoids being saccharine. Much of the credit goes to the illustrations, which effectively convey the atmosphere of the junkyard and the personalities of the characters.

The scruffy denizens of the junkyard are a refreshing change from the many cuddly, bucolic animals usually residing in children's literature. Rats, possums, pigeons, and ownerless dogs: They live on the edges of "official" society in their own messy but companionable world, preoccupied with food and warmth--both physical and emotional. Rather like children, in fact.

For another take on the theme of coping with separation from a friend, check out Bernard Waber's Ira Says Goodbye.