CLEMENTINE IN THE CITY

In this witty look at life in the big city, a black standard poodle named Clementine leaves her small town behind in search of a more glamorous life in New York. Despite her lack of experience, Clementine finds a job as a performing circus dog with just three days to prepare. Confident Clementine takes the city by storm in those three days, seeing the sights, finding an apartment and new friends, and tracking down special shops and services for pampered pooches. Her disastrous circus debut ends with a broken arm and a stay in the canine hospital, but her successful foray into an unfamiliar city leads to a new job as a travel writer. The breezy writing style and first-person point of view help bring Clementine to life as a distinctly different dog with a mind of her own, complemented by Hartland’s whimsical illustrations of the poodle strolling around the city. The story ends with Clementine’s first assignment for a new travel magazine (amusingly named Go Dog Go), and the clever canine is ready to jet off to Tokyo to explore the delights of another big city. (Picture book. 4-8)