Polarhog (?) seeks out his friend, Barry, a bird-like creature that lives in a boring looking house to treat him to a surprise. They go for a walk and along the way Barry is quite adverse to any of Polarhog's attempts to enliven his life. Barry doesn't like hats, ice cream or meatballs. The ants that trail along the bottom of each spread reveal the real surprise in store for Barry once he returns to Barry's not-boring-any-more house. The introduction of a few unusual words for an early reader lend a welcome sophistication to the humor in the text. When Barry is suddenly without his hat Polarhog asks, "Hey! Where is your hat?" Bird, "Oh, tragedy. I must have dropped it." Polarhog exclaims about his blue popcicle, "Oh, happiness! Oh, BLISS!Another unlikely duo in the annals of unlikely duos for beginning readers. Barry's Big Surprise a droll bit of fun to entertain young ones. A Level One Toon Book.