STICK DOG WANTS A HOT DOG

Stick Dog’s back and on the hunt for a snack.

Stick Dog and his buddies Mutt, Poo-Poo, Stripes and Karen fondly remember that day in Picasso Park when they got some delicious hamburgers from a family grilling out—they’d like some more, please. After a pleasant game of BARK! at Stick Dog’s house (all the dogs stand around and bark at anything that moves, and barking first scores more points), Stick Dog realizes he is hungry. The rumbling in his belly causes his friends’ bellies to rumble, but over the rumble they hear something else: a bell. After deciding it’s not Santa, a giant cuckoo clock or miniature bell-ringing humans, they discover it is Peter and his frankfurter cart. Each pooch comes up with an outlandish plan to steal the franks, but Stick Dog finds them all flawed. When they agree to his plan, Karen complicates it by becoming trapped in a strange human’s house. Will they ever get those delicious frankfurters? Though Watson’s second Stick Dog romp may appear to be for reluctant or very young readers due to its ample white space and simple illustrations, its vocabulary may frustrate them at times. An expansion of Watson’s self-published Stick Dog Wants a Frankfurter with new illustrations by Long, this features the same foolishness and narrative style as Stick Dog’s first, eponymous outing.

A silly, simple read for middle graders who love dogs, be they hot- or stick-.