It's A Jungle Out There! Roy Digs Dirt! by David Shannon

Roy is a down-to-earth kind of guy.

ROY DIGS DIRT. DIRT MAKES ROY HAPPY!

Roy, is, of course, a dog.

He delights in dirtiness. He loves to dig up things like busted balloons, bent bottle caps, and broken backup lights. He loves to bury things like balls and bark and bones.

MUD IS LIKE DIRT GRAVY!

Roy digs everything dirty, but not...baths!

BATHS ARE THE OPPOSITE OF DIRT.

But maybe the best thing about Roy's dirt is that, in his very own backyard, from that very dirt, there grows...

A JUNGLE!

And sometimes in that jungle there are critters for Roy to bark at! There's a cat who thumbs his nose at him from on high, and a possum that giggles at the cat, and a rat, and a mouse... and then there is a skunk!

NOW ROY IS DIRTY AND STINKY!

But it's all good in this day in a dog's life. But then all dog days are good days in David Shannon's latest, Roy Digs Dirt (David Books) (Blue Sky Press, 2020).  Like author Shannon's award-winning picture book character David, Roy is a force of nature and a joyful one. After all, there's no limit to the fun to be had in a world composed of ..., well, dirt--when you're a dog who digs it. Shannon's hilarious drawings make the most of this dirty dog story, from Roy's delight in digging worms to his spread-eagle resistance to the bathtub. This one begs to be read aloud, and with all the funny visual cues artist Shannon provides, it is also great for emergent readers. And before you wash your hands of dirty dog tales, share this one with the Gene Zion's classic, Harry the Dirty Dog (Harry the Dog).

In their review Publishers Weekly, says "What this book offers is a real gift: the chance to spend time with an outsize personality whose happiness is pure, all encompassing, and seemingly without end."