Sheepish? Who's Sheepish? Sheep Dog and Sheep Sheep by Eric Barclay

Sheep loves to dance. She knows all kinds of fancy dancing...

... the Wildflower Dance..., ... the Get This Spider Off of Me Dance...

and of course... the Pee-Pee Dance.

And sometimes in her ecstasy she closes her eyes and... bumps into things.

And one day she bumps into a very hairy dog.

"I'm the sheep dog," he said. "I watch sheep."

Immediately Sheep Sheep has a bone to pick with Sheep Dog over their respective job descriptions. Sheep insists that as a sheep, she is the expert at sheep watching. She also points out that he can't be much of a sheep watcher with all that hair in his face and skips off to the farmhouse for a fetching ribbon to tie his forelock into a dainty topknot.

Sheep Dog has to admit that he can see better with his new hairdo and to prove it, he rescues Sheep Sheep from a diving eagle. As she trips off for some binoculars to improve his vision, Sheep Dog spots another carnivorous critter looking for a tasty lamb chop.

"COYOTE!!!!"

Saved, Sheep Sheep dances off to fetch a map, requiring Sheep Dog to save her again from a breach in the bridge! Oblivious, Sheep Sheep declares Sheep Dog now equipped for sheep-watching duty.
But where are the sheep? Neither of them can spot a single fleece. This lamb is adamant. Now whose fault is that?

"DID YOU LOSE THEM?"

It seems that Sheep Sheep failed to do her due diligence as she looks around and finds that she is indeed a only sheep in this particular pasture, in Eric Barclay's sweet sheep saga, Sheep Dog and Sheep Sheep (HarperCollins, 2019). Barclay's comic and clueless Sheep Sheep is an adorable foil for the dutiful Sheep Dog, devoted to doing his darnedest to protect his little charge, and in this charming little story illustrated by the author, the two emerge as a delightful storybook duo. As School Library Journal puts it, "Barclays's quick-witted text is as endearing as his pastel pencil and Photoshop illustrations..."