WE MATCH!

Visitors to a dog park find common ground, even though they don’t look the same—or even belong to the same species.

Actually, Armando and Scurry—a border collie and a border collie mix, respectively—do resemble one another (“I mean,” says one, “we totally match.” “Yup. You said it”), but that’s the last time that mere looks come into play. Scurry and golden retriever Mango match up over their love of playing ball, Armando and fluffy little Lucille Snowball bond over a shared delight in sticking their heads out of car windows, and other dogs chime in: “Hey! Wet food or dry food?” “I’m on Team Dry.” “Hydrant? Or bush?” They don’t just break off into pairs, either; several like to do tricks or chase squirrels, while others prefer just to sit and watch. One isn’t even a dog, but a sweater-clad ferret who silently but expressively “matches” with Armando after the latter asks tentatively, “Are you friendly?” Just to make the point explicit, terrier mix Button, holding a microphone, provides knowing commentary: “You can’t always tell right away, can you?” In Glick’s idyllic cartoon scenes, humans of diverse hue, including one who uses a wheelchair, stay in the background until the time comes for a group portrait and a collective “WE ALL MATCH!” Best of all, character cards for the eight animals at the end offer readers opportunities to keep making connections within, and perhaps beyond, the four-legged cast.

A fetching reminder to look for what brings us together.