To see summaries of the five books we used to talk about being yourself, scroll to the bottom of this post. If you have a couple minutes . . . I envisioned doing storytime posts once a month this summer, but here we are in July and here I am with my first summertime storytime post. Ahhh, these long, sometimes lazy, sometimes crazy days of summertime!

One of Humphrey’s many napping spots

Humphrey and Penny, doing the Doodle Duel

Humphrey has no problem going from lazy to crazy! (And yes, I realize Humphrey’s naps feature prominently in several storytime posts :-))He recently had a playdate with his doodle friend Penny, and those two, they have so much fun together. We were a bit reluctant bringing Penny into the condo, wondering if Humphrey would totally lose his mind since he usually only sees his friends outdoors where there’s lots of room to run and wrestle, but they were fine. Sure, they wrestled quite a bit and Humphrey only settled down for maybe half an hour in the four hours Penny was with us but no furniture was destroyed and nobody went to the bathroom inside so we counted it a success.

With dogs, pretty much what you see is what you get. They are themselves. For some reason it’s harder for us humans, young and old, and these picture books have some great reminders that we are pretty special the way we are, and we can celebrate our quirks and differences. Here’s to lazy summer days and storytimes and being yourself, no matter who you are!

Camilla’s New Hairdo by Tricia Tusa

I am a huge fan of Tricia Tusa’s illustrations! In this book, great for all ages with a not-too-long story, a woman named Camilla does her hair up in crazy hairdo’s like fruit baskets and forests, mimicking what she sees out her window. She never actually sets foot outdoors, in fact she lives in a tower with only a window and no door, until the day a little girl crash lands on her balcony and Camilla discovers she’s brave enough to not only venture outside, but invite people inside. It’s a story about being yourself while still stepping outside your comfort zone, and it’s worth multiple reads just to study those amazing hairdo’s!

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Oh I love the gentle bull in this classic book, and the black and white illustrations do such a good job of showing perspective and emotion. The page where Ferdinand sits on the bee . . . but I get ahead of myself. Ferdinand isn’t like the other bulls. While they like to “run and jump and butt their heads together” Ferdinand sits quietly and smells the flowers. Some men come along looking for the roughest bulls to fight in bull fights in Madrid, and they see Ferdinand just after he sits on a bee and starts running around snorting and pawing the ground, so they choose him. Oh no! The bull fighters are so nervous when they hear about crazy Ferdinand, and there’s this great spread where Ferdinand runs into the middle of a huge crowded arena, and sits down, and smells the flowers the women have thrown from their hair onto the ground for the matador. The gentle bull refuses to fight, so he gets sent home, and he’s happy being himself, the end. What a great, great book.

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene

There’s a lot of funny nuance in this book for older kids and adults, with allusions to fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots and the phrase “it’s the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.” It’s basically a tale of mistaken identity, where a piglet and baby princess get mixed up at birth and are raised in very different homes. When the peasant parents become aware of the mistake they try and make things right, but the king and queen aren’t convinced. The peasant girl may be smart and beautiful, but she doesn’t look or speak like a real princess and so she can’t possibly be their daughter. Their daughter (the pig), is dressed in fancy gowns and jewels, and so things stay the way they are. The peasant girl (who should have been raised in a castle) gets married happily ever after to a young shepherd, and the princess pig is married to a handsome prince who is assured that once he kisses her, she’ll turn into a beautiful princess because, “it’s the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.” Except . . . not in this book! This book got a good laugh out of the kids and me.

The Mightiest by Keiko Kasza

I adore this author/illustrator, and often use her books for storytime. This one was new to me but I knew it would be good and it didn’t disappoint. Lion, Elephant and Bear see a crown sitting on a rock with the words “For the Mightiest” carved on the side. They argue over who is the mightiest and will get to wear the crown, until a little old lady comes along and they decide whoever scares the lady gets the crown. Each of them scares her so much that they start arguing over who scared her most, but then a giant comes along and he takes the crown and scoops up the animals and tells them he’ll drop them over the edge of a cliff but then the old lady yells “George!” And he stops and drops the animals because she scares him. A little old lady! Turns out she’s his mama 🙂 The animals give the crown to the little old lady who was able to calm the giant, which is kind of what I expected, but then, SHE PUTS THE CROWN BACK ON THE ROCK!!! She tells them she has her little hat and it’s good enough for her, and there’s this great line, “The mightiest didn’t need a crown after all.” Isn’t that just great?

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Mo Willems books are so, so good for read alouds, this one works for pretty young kids with very short text but older kids will appreciate it, too. It starts with great word play, “Leonardo was a terrible monster” could mean two things. It could mean he is really, really mean and horrible, or it could mean that he’s bad at being a monster, and in this book, it’s the latter because you turn the page and it says, “he couldn’t scare anyone.” There’s this great picture of Leonardo throwing a monster tantrum, mouth open and blue tongue flailing. What a cute monster (with human parents). I love the language, like he wants to “scare the tuna salad” out of someone. He finds a boy named Sam and he thinks he scares him but then Sam explains that he’s crying for a bunch of other reasons and not because Leonardo is scary. So Leonardo decides to just be himself, and that means being a good friend, which is exactly what Sam needs. Ahhhhhh.

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To see summaries of the five books we used to talk about being wise, scroll to the bottom of this post. If you have a couple minutes . . . it’s almost summer! Just look at this beaut of a sunflower, insisting we take note.

And even though I’m not a slave to a school schedule the way I once was, it’s the end of May and it just feels right to slow down and shift gears this time of year. I believe we’re designed for seasons of rest in our lives. Humphrey firmly agrees.

And so I’ll be taking a break from my story times this summer, but may post a few goodies here that I read to my sweet group before I started putting them on this blog. I will miss reading to my kids but hope to see them Sunday mornings. It has given me so much joy to share stories with them each week, to put down our book and do stretches, play simon-says, or come up close to our cameras and do “baby boo-boo.” (Don’t know baby boo-boo? Stop and ask me sometime. It’s great for warming up your smile muscles :-))

I wish everyone a summer of sun and fun and lots of good books and stories. Be wise and wear your sunscreen and stay hydrated and eat lots of ice cream and play outside and turn off the screens. And one more thing, a dear friend of mine always says, “Tell three people you love them.” He says it pretty much every time I see him, and those are some pretty wise words.

left to right, Clay, Meredith, Teresa, Brett (wise guy), Rich and Tracy

Here’s our books about being wise:

Harry by the Sea by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham

Harry is famous for Harry and the Dirty Dog, but this book is pretty great, too. This time, Harry runs off looking for a way to cool down, but when he comes out of the sea covered in seaweed, everyone thinks he looks like a sea monster and Harry can’t find his family because everyone’s striped beach umbrella looks the same. He finally thinks he hears someone calling his name and goes running towards the voice, but the man is calling, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, not Harry!” It’s the hot dog man, but all ends well when the family hears Harry barking, they’re reunited, and they return to the beach next time with a uniquely spotted umbrella so Harry will have no trouble finding his way back to them. How wise!

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute

Clever Tom finds himself a leprechaun and is set on getting the little guy’s fortune. He snatches him up and they traipse through a ditch and over a peat bog and finally into a great field of flowering weeds that all look alike. The leprechaun points out the exact weed where Tom should dig, but first he’ll have to go get his shovel. Tom decides to tie his red garter around the plant to mark the spot, and makes the leprechaun promise not to remove it, which he does. Tom releases his captive, but while Tom is gone the leprechaun ties red garters to all the other weeds so when Tom gets back, he has no idea which weed is the right weed. You should have heard the kids groan! The best part of this book was asking the kids how they could have been wise and marked the treasure. They came up with all sorts of good ideas, including bringing a shovel in the first place!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

This books was a crowd favorite, and even the kids who had read it before delighted in hearing it again. The bus driver breaks the fourth wall on the title page, in fact his words of warning are the title when he warns us, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” Then he leaves and for the whole book, the little blue wide-eyed pigeon tries to convince us to let him drive the bus. He begs, he lies, he tries to be cute, then he begs some more and finally throws a major hissy fit, but we readers stand firm. We DO NOT let the pigeon drive the bus, do we? Why? Because we are wise! And then the bus driver comes back and thanks us, he drives off and the pigeon is dejected . . . until he gets a new dream. Maybe he’ll drive a truck! Pretty much anything Mo Willems does will be a story time home run.

Pigsty by Mark Teague

I love the big, bright pictures in this book and the short text makes it a good one for younger kids. In this story, Wendell’s mom tells him his room is so messy it’s turning into a pigsty and when he goes to his room, he actually finds a pig in his bed. Wendell says, “It’s not so bad,” his mom says, “Fine,” so the room gets messier and more pigs move in. It’s fun at first, but pretty soon the pigs start “hogging” the pillows (tee hee) and when they get hoof prints on his comic books and chew on his baseball cards he’s had enough. Wendell enlists the pigs to help clean up (that’s wise) and the pigs decide it’s too clean, they’d rather go back to the farm. Best happily ever after: “From that day on, Wendell kept his room clean . . . ” ha! You’re welcome parents 🙂

The Boy Who Cried Wolf Retold by B. G. Hennessy, illustrated by Boris Kulikov

When I showed this book to the kids, they all said they’d heard the story, which I don’t think I need to repeat here. But none of the kids had seen this illustrated version, which I think is cleverly done. The sheep have great personalities, they’re happy to stare at flowers and butterflies while the boy is bored. When he goes off yelling about a wolf, they stare after him with eyes wide and mouths agape. And in the end when a wolf appears, they take care of themselves, hiding up in a tree while the hapless boy scratches his furrowed brow, alone and confused. It’s obvious who ISN’T wise in this story, but it’s fun to see how the illustrator adds some subtext with the wise little flock of sheep.

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It is so easy to find picture books that go along with the theme of FEELINGS (scroll down to find reviews for this week’s picks). Maybe because it’s something we deal with every day as humans and so it resonates with authors and illustrators. Kids have a hard time hiding their feelings, like when they get that gift they’ve been hoping for and they’re full of joy. I love this picture of Rebeka when we got her a ridiculously huge Curious George for Christmas.

Rebeka Uwitonze, Christmas 2012

This pic is an all time family favorite. Guess who got to push the down button in the elevator, and who didn’t?

McKenzie and Alayna Davis, cousins, (McKenzie pushed the button)

But all joking aside, sometimes the feelings are not easy or fun to deal with. A good picture book can help if the feelings you’re dealing with are negative, and honestly the book doesn’t even have to be about feelings! Just the act of sitting down together, opening a book and turning your eyes to something different for a while can help diffuse the sad/mad/bad stuff. And if the feelings are great? Well, picture books can capture that pretty fantastically, too! Just look how my friend, Anne, does it here . . .

Rad! by Anne Bustard, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman

There is a lot to love in this book with spare text and bright pictures that works great for the little two year old’s in your crowd and the older kids, too. Five cool cats with rhyming names: Esther, Chester, Hester, Sylvester and Lester go skateboarding, but Lester is more timid than the others. They encourage him to practice and try but he’s afraid and worried, but finally he says, “Maybe,” then gives it a go . . . but wipes out. There’s great repetition with those fun-to-say rhyming names as Esther, Chester, Hester and Sylvester encourage Lester to give it one more try, which he does, and “Rad!” it turns out he’s got some cool moves on that skateboard. Elation! Full of confidence, he has his eye on surfboards for tomorrow, and this time his friends are worried! The last double page spread is super cute (check out the worried crab on the surfboard :-)).

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

This title, this cover, it is full of Mo Willems brilliance from end paper to end paper and ALL the feelings. Little Trixie is full of excitement as she sets off to the laundromat with her dad and her beloved Knuffle Bunny. (I love the illustrations, hand drawn ink sketches laid on top of digital photography.) She has a blast playing around with the laundry (pants on head, waving around mom’s bra, while dad smiles and reached into basket to shove dirty clothes into machine, not paying attention, oh no, he’s reaching for Knuffle Bunny . . .). On the way home Trixie realizes she’s missing something and we see distress, she tries to tell her dad but she only speaks baby talk so we see major panic and frustration and anger and then they get home and mom knows immediately what’s going on so they race back to the laundromat and Trixie watches, worried as her parents search the machines. Just when Dad says Knuffle Bunny is gone for good he checks one more time and JOY, he finds the bunny! I really don’t know if there is a better display of the full range of emotions in a picture book, or a cuter name for a stuffed animal than Knuffle Bunny.

It Could Have Been Worse by A.H. Benjamin, illustrated by Tim Warnes

This book is about a grumbling mouse, and it encourages kids (and their parents :-)) to wonder about the things going on that we don’t see but should be thankful for. I’m thankful for any book that can stop my grumbling! What looks like disaster for mouse is actually salvation, and what looks like an inconvenience is a gift. He’s on his way home from visiting a cousin when he loses his balance and falls through some sticker bushes. The mouse is grouchy and says, “Ouch, this isn’t my lucky day!” What he doesn’t realize, but the reader sees in the illustrations, is that the sticker bush stops a cat that’s been chasing him. He falls in a hole and grumbles, not realizing it saves him from a hawk. It’s fun to always be in on something the little mouse isn’t, kind of like a secret between the illustrator and the reader, and at the end there’s a repeated refrain you can take with you and use again. “It could have been much worse!”

A Little Old Man by Natalie Norton, illustrated by Will Huntington

This book is really old but hopefully you can get your hand on it at a library or second-hand store. It’s such a sweet, simple world to step into. It’s about, you guessed it, a little old man 🙂 He lives “in a little house on a little island in the middle of a great big ocean.” What a great set up. All seems well, he has all he needs with food and work and a garden but he has nobody to share it all with. He’d like a cat, he even dreams of a cat. And then one day a storm comes and washes his house into the ocean, but a boat comes and lands on his island so it’s okay, he can live there instead, and on the boat is a cat and better yet, the cat has kittens! And here’s the best part, the last line is, “And the little old man was never sad or lonely again.” Ahhh. I do love me a happy ending, especially with a kitten or two curled up in it.

See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

This book cracks me up, and what’s cool about it is that it works as an easy reader and a great read aloud for storytime. The first of three short stories is the best for our feelings theme. It’s a conversation between the book and a dog. The book says, “See the cat,” and then the dog answers, in a speech bubble, “I am not a cat. I am a dog.” The book answers, “See the blue cat,” and this time the dog emphatically says, “I am NOT blue and I am NOT a cat.” The conversation, and emotions, escalate until the dog is insisting he is not a blue cat in a green dress riding a pink unicorn and then he looks behind him and sees . . . a blue cat in a green dress riding a pink unicorn (the book wasn’t talking about him!). Then we get to see what an embarrassed dog looks like 🙂 The second and third stories are equally silly and funny and clever and meta.

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This week, our story time books all have mothers in them, frustrated moms and brave moms, comforting and visionary moms, and one mom who smells like roses and is waiting on the doorstep with a kiss for her little boy. To go straight to the summaries of the books, scroll down. I’m going to pause just a minute and share a few pics. In this first one, my mom, my sister (who wasn’t a mom yet), and my husband’s mom were all waiting outside the hospital door while on the other side I was becoming a mom for the very first time.

It perfectly captures that sense of excitement and anxiousness and I-can’t-wait-hurry-up-and-have-that-baby feeling we all had! There’s a guy at the dog park where we take Humphrey whose wife is about to have a baby, and people keep giving him a hard time telling him he’s about to lose all his free time and he’s going to get no sleep and dirty diapers are disgusting and I tell him that’s all true but it doesn’t matter. Because he’s going to have these heart-in-his-throat moments that trump it all. Like this one, when I had all three of my chicks all gathered up plus Clay on one shoulder and yellow duck on the other and Alayna full of kisses and hugs and Nate full of crooked smiles and stories and new Benji with wide staring eyes and possibilities and life was full.

And then I blinked and they grew up and were beautiful and Alayna is adventurous and ready to embark on a life of possibilities and Nate is still full of stories and smiles and Benji’s baby staring eyes are now in an 18-year-old’s body and are taking in life all around him and I love to sit across the table and hear about what he’s seeing and thinking about it all.

I love being a mom. I love my mom, and Clay’s mom, and all the mom’s in my life. Happy Mother’s Day and I hope you can harness some kids and read them some books this week! Here are our books this week:

Scarlette Beane by Karen Wallace, illustrated by Jon Berkeley

This is a good one for young kids. There isn’t much text and the pictures are nice and big and bright. I love the blessing the mom speaks over her daughter on the first page of this book, “‘We shall call her Scarlette,’ declared Mrs. Beane. ‘She will grow tall and strong and do something wonderful.'” The family lives in a house as small as a garden shed so they work outside as much as possible, gardening while their sweet baby, Scarlette, sleeps in her stroller nearby, the ends of her magical fingers glowing green. When her dad gives Scarlette her very own garden on her fifth birthday, wonderful things happen. She grows veggies so enormous it takes a forklift to harvest the onions and chainsaws to cut the parsley. They feed everyone in the village soup, and Scarlette grows a most wonderful, magical new home for her family under the light of a full moon. A castle of vegetables!

Scaredy Cat by Joan Rankin

This picture book is just the right amount of “scary” for little guys, suspense that’s resolved on the very next page with Mama Meow, the kitten’s mother, reassuring her/him (it can be either since it’s told from the kitten’s point of view and drawn neutral, I’ll go with a girl) that whatever she’s frightened of is not so scary. The “giant” is just Auntie B and the “crocodiles” are just Auntie B’s shoes. Excitement builds when the kittens sees an “eensie-weensie spider”  that turns out to be “Scratchpooch’s” nose and whiskers which the kitten takes care of all on her own. With a BONK! and a KAPOW! from kitten, Mama Meow declares her Tiger Cat. Another good one for littles with minimal text and such a sweetness.

Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild! By Mem Fox, illustrated by Marla Frazee

I’m a huge fan of both the author and the illustrator and this book is precious to me because it’s signed by the illustrator. I have to include a picture because I love when illustrators draw a picture when they sign a book (and I’m a little jealous they can do that. I can barely sign my name when someone hands me a copy of Her Own Two Feet to sign, I’m so nervous I’ll mess up and either misspell their name, or my own, ha!)

But I digress. I love that this book keeps it real. It’s about a child named Harriet who doesn’t mean to be pesky, she just is, and a mother who doesn’t like to yell, and tries her very best to keep her cool, until she just can’t. Harriet spills her juice and some jam, pulls the tablecloth (and everything else) off the table, and rips open a pillow (with the help of the dog) . . . and then there is a terrible silence (and an awesome illustration where feathers hang suspended in the bedroom behind Harriet’s mom, where she sits at a kitchen table, her eyes wide, her pen hanging suspended above a letter). Then Mom yells and yells and Harriet says, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” in a flurry of wildness like feathers flying from pillows and then comes the hugs and the forgiveness and the settling and they laugh as they clean up their mess together. Keeping it real. I love it. Perfect for littles, minimal text, lots of feelings and love.

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

This book is absolutely beautiful, both the illustrations and the message. While the text is spare, it’s a book for all ages including adults, with so much to talk about and look at. It’s the story of a mother with a small child who travels across a bridge and becomes an immigrant in a foreign land where she doesn’t speak the language. She and her child make mistakes as they try to understand and find their way to a library where they learn to read and find their voice. There is a lot going on in the illustrations and plenty to talk about that isn’t being said explicitly. There are Spanish and English words, and lyrical language, for example, “One day we bundled gifts in our backpack and crossed a bridge outstretched like the universe,” and in the illustration the words “Adios Corazon” (goodbye, beloved) are stitched. I love this sweet mother and her determination to give her child a better life, leaving behind her beloved homeland. At first she is suspicious of a place like a library, where books are free to borrow, she finds it improbable, then “unbelievable, surprising, unimaginable . . .” What a gift, to be reminded that books and stories are . . . a gift!

A Gift for Mama by Linda Ravin Lodding, illustrated by Alison Jay

This book is set in Vienna, where a boy named Oskar wants to buy his mama the perfect gift for her birthday. He starts off buying her a beautiful yellow rose for a single coin, but on the next page an artist wants the rose and so he trades it for a paintbrush, and ends up trading that to a conductor for some sheet music, and so it goes, until he comes to a girl with a beautiful yellow rose pinned to her dress with no gift for her mama. He gives her the candies he got from the empress and is empty-handed as he goes home to his mama that evening, until the girl runs up and gives him the rose from her dress. Oskar’s mama kisses him and tells him his gift is, “Perfect.” Perfect. 🙂

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When my good friend and critique partner, Jerri Romine, said I could come raid her shelves for story time books, I was thrilled. She is a former preschool teacher with a fantastic eye for what makes a great read aloud, she recently got her second vaccine and I’ve had my first, we were golden! And a special surprise, another critique partner Paige Britt showed up (also recently vaccinated). We haven’t seen each other in over a year! As Kathi Appelt says in her book Bubba and Beau Meet the Relatives, it was jubilation galore!

left to right Jerri Romine, Paige Britt, and Meredith Davis

We first met way back in 2005 when we started reading each other’s work, cheering each other on, and going gaga over the best in kidlit. Jerri baked fresh banana bread and made hot coffee and had stacks and stacks of awesome books on her kitchen table. We caught up on life and went gaga over some of the best in kidlit all over again, separating all those great picture books into stacks by themes. I’ve got enough books to get our story time kiddos through the summer, starting with this week’s theme on pets.

If anyone follows me on social media, you’ve met our “mini” double doodle Humphrey who is often muddy-footed and full of energy. Kind of reminds me of some kids I know! I think the kids will love this week’s books, and if you’ve got others you’d recommend, leave them in the comments!

The Stray Dog retold and illustrated by Marc Simont, from a true story by Reiko Sassa

This is a great book for young ones, not a lot of text and a simple storyline with lots of emotion. A family leaves the city and drives to a nearby park for a picnic, where they play with a cute little dog. They call him Willy but when it’s time to go home they assume he belongs to somebody and leave him behind. In the next two page turns the week passes, and the family thinks about Willy. The following weekend they return to the park for another picnic, see Willy being chased by a dog catcher, insist that he belongs to them (the boy’s belt becomes the leash, the girl’s bow his collar) and take him home. Sweet! I love that it’s based on a true story, love the spread where the boy and girl have the dog in the tub with them giving him a bath, just love the whole darn book and how it’s told so simply.

The Bravest Cat The True Story of Scarlett by Laura Driscoll, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan

I love that this is also a true story, and such a heartwarming one. A mother cat rescues her little kittens from a building that’s on fire but they’re all burned in the process, especially the mother. They’re taken to an animal hospital and stories run on TV and in the newspapers about the brave mother cat. They slowly recover and get adopted (except one who dies, it’s handled with honesty and a simple explanation I appreciate). Scarlett, the mother, receives over a thousand letters from people who want to take her home and ends up going to a woman who was also in an accident and took a long time to recover, a woman who lost her cat but waited to replace her because she didn’t want another “unless it was a very special one . . . just like Scarlett!” And there’s a real photo at the end just so you’ll get good and weepy.

Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

I’ve loved reading this book out loud for many years, it’s just got a lot of great elements and while it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a “pet” book, this white dog (with one black spot on his left ear) is indeed a pet who accumulates different colors of spots throughout his day, a red splat of jam, a blue splish of paint, and on it goes. You get to count, and do colors, and play with different fun sounds like squash and splosh, and at the end I love playing a memory game with the kids to see if they remember what made all those fun spots. It’s got bright, engaging illustrations, simple text, it’s a story and a game all wrapped up in one, this one has it all, so I say do it for pets, do it for counting and colors, just do it for fun!

I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff illustrated by David Catrow

In a series of increasingly creative letters a boy tells his mom why he really wants his neighbor’s iguana when he moves, and his mom very patiently explains why it’s a really bad idea. Catrow’s art is over the top, bright and weird, and the mom is a tough cookie. She’s eventually won over, but only on a “trial basis” and she reminds her son, “If you clean his cage as well as you clean your room, you’re in trouble.” All this back and forth in letters, brings us to a really sweet double page spread where we see an in-person mother and son interaction. Mom stoops down, son clasps his hands, page turn, and then, and then, suspense builds on the next double page spread . . .Yesss! He gets that iguana by golly. So satisfying!

The Dog Who Had Kittens by Polly M. Robertus, illustrated by Janet Stevens

I get sentimental about this book because the author, Polly, was one of the first children’s book authors I met when I started writing for kids, and I had this book on the shelf when my daughter was born even though it’s a bit text heavy and I had to wait a while for her to sit still and listen to it. It got lost somewhere along the way so I was so happy when I saw it in Jerri’s pile, like finding a long lost friend. It’s a sweet one, about an old, grouchy Basset Hound named Baxter. When Eloise the cat has kittens he’s shoved off to the side and kept away but one day the family leaves, the door to the laundry rooms is left open, and Eloise is gone. Baxter becomes the kittens’ new favorite,  and all is well again, until one day when Baxter goes off with his boy and when he comes back, the kittens are gone. He ends up snuggling up in their old box with, guess who . . . Eloise! She licks his ear, just as if he were a kitten, ahhhh. A good picture book always has a zinger of a last line and a final illustration that stays with you. This one doesn’t disappoint.

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