Lost and Found Dog: Broadway Barks by Bernadette Peters

I used to be called Douglas.

I used to live in a tall apartment building, but now I live in the park.

No one takes me for a walk. No one gives me dinner, and no one says "Good dog, Douglas."

It's a hard knock life for an abandoned dog in Manhattan, but lonely Douglas is a savvy pooch who can pick a prospective dog lover, and when he follows a pretty lady with long curly red hair (not unlike the author's), his luck begins to change. The lady kindly scoops him up and loads him into a taxi which deposits them both in Schubert Alley.

It's audition time for dogs, a annual festive gala called Broadway Barks, which seeks to unite homeless canines with eager owners. Douglas is a born performer, and when the music begins he happily "sings" and "dances" for the delighted crowd with zest. Doug is feeling pretty good about his chances when he is abruptly grabbed and taken offstage and tied to a prop. Douglas is distraught.

No one loves me. Nobody wants me.

Then--oh, joy!--a small girl named Isabel appears with the words he has been hoping for: "Would you like to go home with me?"

Isabel renames her new dog "Kramer," gives him dinner, a bath, and a belly rub, and best of all, provides those words he has been longing to hear:

"Good dog, Kramer."

Author and Broadway diva Bernadette Peters is co-founder, with Mary Tyler Moore, of the annual Broadway Barks pet rescue event, which receipts from sales of this book will benefit. Unlike some celebrity books, Broadway Barks: With CD is an engaging story with charming collage illustrations by Liz Murphy. A CD of Peters' nice reading of her story and her performance of its theme song, "Kramer's Song," is included with the book.