Archaeological Dig: Farley and the Lost Bone by Lynn JohnsTon and Beth Cruikshank

IT WAS A PERFECT SPRING DAY, AND THE WARM SUN SOAKED INTO FARLEY'S FUR.

ELLY WAS OUTSIDE, TOO. SHE HUMMED A HAPPY SONG AS SHE DUG IN HER FLOWER BED.

SEEING ELLY DIG REMINDED FARLEY OF SOMETHING SOMETHING HE HAD WANTED TO DO ALL WINTER. SOMETHING HE COULDN'T DO WHILE THE GROUND WAS COVERED IN SNOW.

But what was it? Farley can't remember. It wasn't playing in the park! It wasn't--- Wait! It had something to do with digging! Yes! And why would Farley dig? Of course! He'd buried a big, juicy bone in the yard to gnaw on later.

But where?

Farley tries digging beside Elly's carefully set out little plants. Elly clearly doesn't go for that! Could it be under the tree where John has set up Michael's toy train and tracks? Nope! Farley is shooed away pronto! Maybe in Lizzie's sandbox! Uh uh! No way is that going to work. Now Farley is suddenly persona non grata in his own backyard.

Farley is stumped. The image of that big, tasty bone tantalizes him. But he's already made everyone in the family mad. Time to retreat to a quiet place and do some thinking.

Farley curls up among some bushes, head sadly on his paws. A patch of sunlit ground catches his eye. The dirt is loose and lumpy, as if someone had---been digging there last fall!

All is forgiven by the family when Farley emerges happily with a big, dirty bone clamped in his jaws.

"OH HO! SO THAT'S WHY YOU WERE DIGGING ALL OVER THE YARD," JOHN SAID.

"UGHHH! DISGUSTING!" SAID ELLY.

In this tasty follow-up to Farley Follows His Nose, (see my review here) prize-winning For Better or Worse cartoon creators Lynn Johnston and Beth Cruikshank take their beloved sheepdog Farley out for another run as a picture book hero in their latest outing, Farley and the Lost Bone (Andrews McMeel, 2011). Farley is as exasperating and lovable as always in this newest shaggy dog story.