THE POODLE WHO BARKED AT THE WIND

A barky little dog suddenly clams up when all of her human family except the father goes out for the day. Zolotow’s 1964 story now sports a third set of illustrations, and perhaps recognizing that words like “postman” and “milkman”—not to mention “typewriter”—give the text a dated air, Coursen (Mordant’s Wish, 1997) not only dresses her figures generically, but uses them in minimally detailed, painted-paper collages at least as spacious and simple as the Roger Duvoisin originals. As soon as mother and children return, the poodle resumes its noisy ways, leading the father to realize that all the barking isn’t just an irritating habit, but the dog’s way of “protecting” her family. Heartwarming, but not really worth still another retread. (Picture book. 5-7)