Cartoon kitten and puppy sitting on a rug with a rope toy, ball, armchair, plant, and sunny window.

Smiling Kitten and Puppy on the Rug

A striped kitten and floppy-eared puppy sit nose-to-nose on a patterned rug, with a rope toy and ball between them.

🎨 How to color it

Color the kitten soft orange with darker marmalade stripes, the puppy honey brown with cocoa spots, the rug teal and cream, and the sunny window pale blue. Use sharp colored pencils for the kitten’s stripes, rug diamonds, plant leaves, and tiny toy knots so the small shapes stay crisp. Try making the rope toy twist with alternating red and yellow strands, like a little secret the friends just discovered.

The story behind this coloring page

Why Toy Ropes Have Knots — Under the afternoon window, Arlo stretched one paw toward the new rope toy. It smelled like cotton, porch dust, and the puppy’s warm fur. Read the full story →

Under the afternoon window, Arlo stretched one paw toward the new rope toy. It smelled like cotton, porch dust, and the puppy’s warm fur. Beside him, Wally’s tail thumped soft thup-thup-thup against the rug, but Arlo’s paw would not land. The rope looked ready to jump.

“Just one pat,” whispered Wally. Arlo tapped the fuzzy end. A tiny hum answered from the loose middle, so small it sounded like a bee in a teacup. The rope wriggled, and out peeked a sleepy thread-moth, silver as window light. “No caves,” it sighed. “Too open.”

Arlo swallowed, then curled both paws around the middle and twisted. Wally held one end gently in his mouth. Together they made a snug bump, soft and round, and the moth tucked itself inside with a pleased little purr. Ever since then, toy ropes keep knots in their middles, in case a shy hum needs a home; next time you spot that twist between the ball and the friends, listen for the bee-in-a-teacup sound.