The plot of this book, for 4-year-olds and up, involves the travails of Al, a janitor who lives in a dingy apartment on Manhattan's West Side with his dog Eddie. One day, a funny-looking bird sticks its huge head through Al's bathroom window and proposes a journey to a terrific place where there are "no worries" and "no cares." Al agrees and takes Eddie with him. What the two experience is paradise--butterflies, wildflowers, chirping birds and cool streams--but it soon gives way to the uncertainties of being away from home, and a moral: that home is where the heart is. This sharp, wry and tender story, which won the 1987 Caldecott Medal, marks Yorinks' and Egielski's fourth highly praised collaborative work.