WET DOG!

“He was a good old dog and a hot old dog, as he lay in the noonday sun.” How does a dog find relief on such a “too-too-too hot” day? By trotting along until he finds an open hose, or a sudsy sink or a cool mud hole. But the ensuing “shaky-shake, shaky-shake, shake” understandably prompts everyone in the vicinity to shoo him along. Children will laugh to see this rail-thin, frizzy-haired mutt bounding happily along from one cool spot to the next, leaving a trail of damp, muddy (but not too angry-looking) folk—until at last a baby’s laugh after an impromptu shower persuades all and sundry to take flying leaps into the pond themselves. Catrow’s in rare form here, well matched by Broach’s lively prose. Here’s can’t-sit-still reading, in summer’s heat—or any other time. (Picture book. 6-8)