Tomi Kontio & Elina Warsta: A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat

Cat has begun to feel an inner longing to settle down. But what happens when along comes a real cat, who likes to walk alone?

Author: Tomi Kontio
Illustrator: Elina Warsta
Finnish original: Koira nimeltään Kissa tapaa kissan
Publisher: Teos, 2019
Genre: illustrated children’s fiction

Number of pages: 32 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original, English translation
Rights sold: Bulgaria, Raketa; EstoniaPäike ja pilv; Hungary, Koinonia; Romania, Pandora | Trei Editorial Group; Slovakia, Portal; Sweden, Epix

A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat is a story about a dog called Cat, a man called Weasel and a cat of an adventurous disposition.

One day Weasel and Cat are sitting on a cliff beside the sea. Ships come and go in the harbour, and watching them Cat feels an inner longing to settle down–to find her own safe harbour.

When a real cat disembarks from one of the ships, things take a new turn. The relationship of the cat and Cat is at first beset with distrust, but in the end the two become friends. They even find a home–and a suitable way for each of them to live there.

A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat by poet Tomi Kontio and illustrator Elina Warsta continues the story of Cat and Weasel, which began in A Dog Called Cat (2015), a candidate for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and the recipient of a special mention from the International Board on Books for Young People for its illustrations. A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2019, and it was voted the readers’ favourite in the competition.

“I look at the cat, entranced. How beautiful it is! It sets off to walk up the slope. I meet its gaze. I feel my skin begin to tingle, my muscles tauten and my hair stand on end. A low growl escapes my mouth. ‘My little cat’, Weasel says, stroking me gently. ‘Don’t be afraid. It’s a cat, a small, pretty cat.’”

Also available:
A Dog Called Cat and the Wonder of Christmas (2021)
A Dog Called Cat Looking for Home (2020)
A Dog Called Cat (2015)

My Dad Is a Hipster (2022)
Wings to the Other Side of the World (2000)

About the authors:
Tomi Kontio
Elina Warsta