“LET’S GET A PUP!” SAID KATE

Preschooler Kate and her parents are just getting over the loss of the their cat when Kate realizes that what they really need is not another cat, but a dog. Off to the animal shelter they go, where they adopt a puppy named Dave and reluctantly leave behind a large, older dog named Rosy. Dave settles in with the family, but they can’t forget Rosy, and the next day, they return to the shelter to bring her home as well. Graham (Max, 2000, etc.) paints quirky people and perky pups in watercolor with pen and ink in an oversized format, and his story is filled with evocative language and the emotions that four-footed friends can elicit. The mother and father in this story are not Ward and June Cleaver: Dad has stubbly cheeks and two earrings, and Mom has a flower tattoo and a nose ring that unfortunately looks a bit like a mini-moustache. Sharp-eyed kids (or concerned parents) may notice that Dad wears a T-shirt sporting a design of a lit cigarette on one page, although Mom wears a T-shirt with a compensatory anti-smoking symbol on a later page. Graham also uses thick, sausage-shaped motion lines to indicate the puppy jumping or Rosy wagging her tail, and several of those motion lines behind a dog’s rear will be gleefully (if incorrectly) pointed out by preschoolers as something other than motion lines. (Picture book. 3-6)