Tall In The Saddle! Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range by Lori Mortensen

Dawgnabbit, Dawg! What'll they think of next?

Paging through the latest Kit 'n' Kaboodle mail order catalog, Cowpoke Clyde comes across an ad for a two-wheeled velocipede. It's supposed to be fun! It promises adventure! How hard can it be?

IT WOULDN'T EAT. IT WOULDN'T STRAY.
IT WOULDN'T BUCK OR BITE OR NEIGH!

The shiny red bike finally arrives. It's everything the catalog promised--sturdy handlebars, steel body, rubber tires! Clyde is excited. He can ride any cayoose on four legs. Two wheels ought to be like a walk in the park.

But anybody who has learned to ride a bike knows it's not quite so easy. Horses don't turn over and they already know how to stop. And the range is no easy-ridin' sidewalk. There are hazards on those trails!

AS HE ROLLED, HE PICKED UP SPEED
ON HIS STRANGE, NEWFANGLED STEED,
WIBBLIN, WOBBLIN' DOWN THE ROAD,
RIGHT STRAIGHT AT A . . . HORNY TOAD!

The almost roadkill toad skitters away just in the nick of time, but up pops a jackrabbit right in Clyde's path. It's a good thing the hare is fast on his feet, because Clyde's are plumb off the pedals!

BRAKIN'? STEERIN'? HOW'D IT WORK?
RIDIN' BIKES WAS PLUMB BERSERK!

Clyde does a wheelie and is airborne as he barely misses a porcupine. He crashes the bike, gives it a disgusted kick in the fender, and dustin' off his Stetson in disgust, he and Dawg set out afoot for the bunkhouse.

But hoofin' it back, Clyde gets to thinkin'. He's busted more'n a few ornery broncos in his time. He's no cowardly cowpoke quitter, and he's gonna conquer this contraption!

Back in the saddle, he's startin' to get the hang of it. Dirty Dawg is lovin' it as he dashes up a ridge and Clyde starts the downhill run. But then he spots some critters grazin' right in his path. It's a whole herd of bighorn sheep! But daringly Dawg sprints ahead and does his thing, scattering the sheep as only a shaggy sheepdog can do.

Whee-ew!

SOON, CLYDE WAS RIDIN' LIKE A PRO
IN SOME TWO-WHEELED RODEO.

With a big YA-HOO, Clyde and Dawg are riding the range in Lori Mortensen's latest tale of the two wrangler pals, Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2016).

Kids who are just learning to ride a bike and those familiar with Mortensen's earlier Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg (review here) will chuckle at this forthcoming romp on the range, especially the final page in which they will see Cowpoke Clyde has rigged up a trailer for his new bike so Dawg can ride the range on wheels as well. Artist Michael Allen Austin is again the hired hand, back to proffer the comic artwork, done in desert duns, rusts, and tans, with perspective which works all the angles and with the lean and lanky cowpoke and his shaggy sidekick just as quirky and quixotic as ever.

Stetsons off to Mortensen and Austin, two old picture book hands, back on the trail again!

High Crime and Misdemeanor: The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach

By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich.

But you may not know how it happened.


It seems a black bear woke up from a long sleep, and being rather hungry, he let his nose lead him to the loadbed of a truck. Inside were flats and baskets of delicious berries. So he ate them... or most of them.

And then he lay down right there and fell asleep.

The next thing he knew, he was in a different forest, one with tall concrete and brick cliffs. There were lots of things to climb, and the tall trees with lights on top were good for back-scratching. Someone had left big metal baskets around with all kinds of tasty treats inside.

But the bear sniffed leafy smells, and he followed the scent to a place with interesting objects to explore. Some of them could swing back and forth. Some went around and around. And on one the bear learned to slide down very fast. It was fun, but then he smelled something delicious. The smell was coming from a park bench where there was a lunchbox.

There it was.

Your beautiful and delicious sandwich. All alone.

The bear made his move.

It was such a great sandwich.

But then the bear heard a sniff and a slobbery sound behind him and decided it was time to head back to the other forest.

Blame it on the Bear?

But that's not the whole story. In fact, it's not even the story at all, as the reader learns, in Julia Sarcone-Roach's The Bear Ate Your Sandwich (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015). Author Sarcone-Roach saves the best for last, a small shaggy dog whose big fabrication becomes obvious as he tells his tale to his young mistress.

I saw it all. I tried to save your sandwich. I was able to save this little bit of lettuce here. The bear dropped it as he ran off.

I'm sorry to tell you about your sandwich this way....But now you know....

And so do we all in this doggone tall tale, one that spins out a lengthy face-saving fib for a little dog who is not going to be hungry for quite a while. But with her charming illustrations of town and country, bear and pooch, Sarcone-Roach will leave her readers chuckling and satisfied--except maybe with a sudden craving for a really good sandwich.

"Young readers and listeners will laugh out loud as they closely examine the pictures and find the jokes in this highly interactive urban adventure," says Kirkus.

Gettin' In The Game! Charlie Plays Ball by Ree Drummond

CHARLIE LIVES ON A RANCH.

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT LIVING ON A RANCH IS REALLY HARD WORK. ESPECIALLY FOR RANCH DOGS.

It's true, Charlie is a ranch dog. Does he herd cows? Does he guard the stock from coyotes all night without a wink of sleep?

Not so much. Watching cows graze all day makes Charlie sleepy. Watching cows graze all night makes Charlie sleep.

Charlie needs a lot of naps.

But Charlie has a job--an important job. He's a narrator.

That's right! That's Charlie's authentic voice that tells us what goes on down on the ranch. And without Charlie, no one would have a clue what a ranch dog has to do.

Today the kids are all home, and after a hearty ranch breakfast and some chores, they're all ready to play ball (Yep. We work hard and we play hard down here.)

A football comes out and the two teams chase up and down the meadow. The quarterback puts the ball in the air. It's a long pass, and the receiver goes for it. So does Charlie.

HE DROPS THE BALL. (SNIFF! SNIFF!).

DOES THAT MEAN IT'S MINE?

UH OH!!

Charlie is tackled from all sides. OOOFF! What was he thinking?

But Charlie is soothed by belly rubs from all the tackles and by the sight of a tray of time-out snacks.

YEP! FOOTBALL IS MY FAVORITE, ALL RIGHT!

But when the soccer ball and the baseball come out of the equipment bag, Charlie's got game--for both of them. . . until Mama calls them all in to eat. What's on the menu, mom? Spaghetti and....

MEATBALLS?

MY VERY FAVORITE BALL OF ALL.

Ranch Woman Ree Drummond's Charlie Plays Ball (Charlie the Ranch Dog) (Harper, 2015) gives her floppy-eared narrator a chance to do the play by play in her latest picture book, illustrated  again by Diane deGroat, whose adorable Basset hound Charlie gamely tags along after the ballplayers while trying to keep his eyes open. Nobody does appealing animal characters with more personality than De Groat, and chef Drummond dishes up an appended recipe for spaghetti and homemade meatballs with all the fixin's and passes the (meat) balls with the best of them.

Fans of Drummond's Charlie picture books should sniff out his I-Can-Read stories, such as Charlie the Ranch Dog: Stuck in the Mud (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie's New Friend (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Where's the Bacon? (I Can Read Book 1), and Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie Goes to the Doctor (I Can Read Book 1).

Just the Facts: Me And Dog by Gene Weingarten

MY NAME IS SID.
I'M JUST AN ORDINARY KID.

I MAKE MISTAKES.

MURPHY'S ORDINARY, TOO.

MURPHY'S PRETTY SMART, BUT HE THINKS A BIT TOO MUCH OF ME.

Sid is not ordinary in one way. He knows he's not as perfect and powerful as his little dachshund Murphy thinks he is. And instead if relishing the adoration, that bothers him. Murphy seems to think that Sid is the Ruler of the Universe. Sid knows he just a third grader who occasionally steps on his dog's tail, and when that happens, to Sid's dismay, Murphy seems to think that was because he had been bad. Sid worries about how he can make Murphy understand.

I WONDER IF HE MIGHT BE FEARFUL, OR LESS FRIENDLY, OR LESS CHEERFUL,

IF HE KNEW I'M NOT THE WIZ, OR MAYBE EVEN NO ONE IS!

The modern proverb making the rounds, "May I be as good as my dog thinks I am!" is the theme of Gene Weigarten's Me and Dog (Simon and Schuster, 2014), in which the introspective Sid worries about his appealing pooch's world view. Weingarten's illustrations of a winsome weiner dog are charming, and his humor shines in his clever rhymes. It's an uncommon concern of kids, but perhaps Sid's ruminations on canine cosmology will give some young pet owners something to think about. Says School Library Journal, "A winning example of fun and prose from an already established humor columnist, Me and Dog won't stay on the shelf for long."

What Goes Around...: Mr. Bud Wears the Cone by Carter Goodrich

MISTER BUD HAD A BAD HOT SPOT. HE CHEWED AND LICKED ALL NIGHT.

A big, lovable, easy-going mutt, Mr. Bud keeps Zorro, the fidgety, feisty pug, awake all night with his scratching.

Next morning, though, Zorro is up and at it, demanding their usual first-thing routine as usual. He barks insistently.

"BISCUIT! THEN WALK!

BISCUIT! THEN WALK!"

But their owner shushes Zorro and hugs Mr. Bud. She applies some ointment to Mr. Bud's itchy back and assures him that it will soon be better.

Zorro hates any interruption in his list of their daily routines. And he hates that Mr. Bud is getting all the attention.

But when the itchy hot spot is no better, their owner knows what comes next. Mr. Bud just can't help scratching and licking the spot. There is only one thing to be done.

The cone!

Conehead Mr. Bud is humiliated. When their owner leaves for work, he frantically tries to get it off. Trying to help, Zorro grabs it in his jaws and pulls, but the cone does not budge. Mr. Bud can't see well and keeps blundering into things. He can't play with Zorro. Bored, Zorro wanders off and figures out how to open the cupboard and spots the dog biscuits on the bottom shelf! Excited, he chews the box open and spills the biscuits all over the floor. He barks for Mr. Bud to come as he starts gobbling, but poor Mr. Bud can't reach them with the cone over his head. He tries to drink from his bowl, but that's a disaster. He collapses on the rug, disheartened.

At first Zorro enjoys taunting Mr. Bud, sneaking his toys and shaking them right in his face, but after a while, the teasing stops being fun.

It's a long day for Zorro and Mr. Bud, and when their owner finally returns, Mr. Bud doesn't even get up to join in "Greet and Make a Fuss Time" on Zorro's schedule. And it's not so much fun when their owner sees the dog biscuit box empty and chewed into shreds all over the floor. Who did it?

It's an open-and-shut case!

Zorro is in the figurative doghouse. But Mr. Bud's boo-boo is all better, He gets his cone removed and a special treat for being such a trooper, but being Mr. Bud, he shares his reward with Zorro. Mr. Bud is good to go--outside for a romp with his buddy.

AND THAT WAS THE END OF THE CONE....

Or not.

Zorro doesn't catch up on his sleep that night. He's up a lot, scratching....

Carter Goodrich's third book about his pair of lovable dog pals, Mister Bud Wears the Cone (Simon and Schuster, 2014), has all the subtle wit and charm of its predecessors. This unlikely pair of best friends are portrayed sympathetically and comically in Goodrich's funny but poignant tale of dealing with a best friend's temporary infirmity. What goes around comes around for the pesky Zorro, but it's all in good fun for dog owners attuned to canine interpersonal relations. See Zorro's backstory in the earlier books, Say Hello to Zorro! and Zorro Gets an Outfit (Junior Library Guild Selection) in my reviews here.

Little Dog Lost Tale: Daisy Gets Lost by Chris Raschka

"GO GET IT, DAISY!"

And with those four words little Daisy is off, chasing a blue ball this time out, ears flapping and stubby legs flying across the park. She snares the ball, mouths it, and is ready to fetch, when she sees something that stops her in her tracks.

It's a squirrel, for the moment absorbed with the fat acorn in its mouth. Fetching forgotten, Daisy drops the ball and charges toward the squirrel, who drops his acorn and makes a run for it into the woods and up a tall tree.

Daisy reaches the tree, barking, with front legs scrabbling at that pesky tree between her and her quarry, her tongue lolling with the joy of pursuit.

But her ardor cools as she looks around, and a worrying thought crosses her mind.

Daisy doesn't know where she is.

Daisy's girl does know where she is, either! She runs into the trees and undergrowth to look for her dog, calling her name!

Daisy runs frantically this way and that, getting more confused and lost as she goes. There seems to be no way out of the underbrush.

AAIIWOOOOOO!!!

Suspense builds quickly in Chris Raschka's second Daisy book, Daisy Gets Lost (Schwartz and Wade, 2013), as girl and dog search blindly for each other in the tangle of the woods. Amazingly, Raschka's inimitable art style manages, with a minimum of seemingly careless brush strokes and dabs of color to portray high emotion as the two friends frantically try to find each other. Using double-page spreads and one bird's-eye view, the illustrator shows their frenetic hunt as they circle each other, lost. Only the squirrel knows where they both are, and he's not telling! Of course, it's not long until there's a happy pup and a girl hug in a joyful reunion to end this lost dog story, with even Daisy's blue ball found on the way back to civilization.

As he did in his Caldecott Medal-winning A Ball for Daisy, Raschka's minimalist text and artwork tells the tale well. Says School Library Journal, "As in his previous work, "Raschka masterfully imbues his ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations with a stunning range of emotions…this book is a must for Daisy fans everywhere.”

Pooch Playoff: Homer by Diane deGroat

Alex loves baseball, but his dog, fittingly named Homer, if anything, loves it more!

Homer doggedly follows Alex to ball practice and home again, and when Alex finally collapses into his bed and falls asleep to dream of play action under his posters and pennants, Homer is there on the rug right beside the bed. But Homer is a dog with a secret life.

...ONE SPECIAL NIGHT...

HOMER MET HIS FRIENDS AT THE BASEBALL FIELD.

"IT'S GOING TO BE A RUFF GAME!"

The cover of Diane de Groat's and Shelley Rottner's latest team effort, Homer [HOMER] [Hardcover] (Orchard, 2012), tells all. Rottner's photo and art collages pitch this tale with all the verve and creativity of their earlier hilarious hit, Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth!, as skillfully manipulated photos of their canines are digitally adapted to the ballpark. We see the opposing teams, the Doggers and the Hounds, suiting up in their locker rooms and psyching themselves up in their doggy dugouts as the groundskeeper pooches prep the infield and the umps put on their chest protectors and take the field.

The ballpark itself has been set up specially for canines, with a convenient fireplug provided for the paws that refreshes near the on-deck circle, and the championship game is on.

The teams are well-matched, but as the game goes into the final inning, Homer's team, the Doggers, are trailing 3-0, and it looks like the Hounds are going to emerge top dogs after all.

But then, the Doggers rally.

ROCKET HITS A SINGLE!

The crowd begins to roar as Whitey gets on base, and Rocket races to second. And then Lucky manages to hit the pitcher's sneaky money pitch, a droolball!

The bases are loaded. It's all up to Homer as he steps up to the plate. The roaring crowd quiets as the count quickly goes to 2 and 0. Then Homer swings mightily and a long drive soars into center field. Is it a long out, or will it clear the fence and cinch the series for the Doggers?

Does Homer hit a homer? The outcome of this tail-wagging tale may not be in doubt, but in art as well as sport, it's not who wins or loses, but how you play the game, and the team of veteran author de Groat and illustrator Rottner show they've got game in their second canine collaboration. Kids will love the doggone funny visual humor as well as the verisimilitude of the digital ballpark and the varied canine breeds as seasoned ballplayers toiling on the mound and squaring off at the plate. As Kirkus Reviews points out in their play-by-play, "The format is everything here.... Even the endpapers are part of the fun, taking the form of doggie baseball cards. A howlingly good time."

Pair this one with Brian Lies big hit, Bats at the Ballgame, for a two-bagger baseball storytime treat.

Costumed Canines? Dogs on Parade by Barbara Joosse

WE'RE ON PARADE!

We came to show off our diggity best.

Prancing poodles and wizardly wire terriers get dressed, some happily, some not so much!--for a costumed dog parade. Each one has his or her own opinion about the whole operation. Walter is wary:

I SHOULD BE FIERCE. I KNOW THAT. BUT COULD I HIDE BEHIND YOUR LEG?

...A PARADE? BUT I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO SEE ME. I WANT TO DISAPPEAR.

IS THIS IT?
THANK YOU.
I'M A--GHOST!

At last all the canines are in costume in Caldecott-winner Barbara Joosse's Dog Parade (Harcourt, 2011). It's pooches proudly on parade, with Gracie-pants, Lovie, Fritzie, Tinkles, Weenie, Jack, and even the unwilling Walter, incognito under his ghostly shroud, proudly strutting their stuff. Joose's deft rhyming text, and artist Eugene Yelchin's playful pictures of pooches with lots of personality (guess how Tinkles got his name and what Weenie wears) make this one a comic romp for canine lovers.

Steppin' Out: Dog in Boots by Greg Gormley

DOG WAS READING A BRILLIANT BOOK ABOUT A CAT WHO WORE A PAIR OF TRULY MAGNIFICENT BOOTS.

As any dedicated shopper could tell us, the right footwear can be a life-changing experience, and Dog just knows that he has to have some of those wonderful boots, too. He visits the local shoe salon and finds just the right pair to make his life perfect. Bow-WOW!

But when Dog needs to dig up his favorite bone, he realizes that he's got a problem: the boots are terrible for digging, and now, instead of being magnificent, they're just a muddy mess!

So it's back to the shoe shoppe to talk the storekeeper into a swap. This time dog opts for mud-proof rain boots, but although they wash off fine, they are not a bit of good for swimming. So it's back for a set of four flippers. They make him an Olympic prospect in the pool, but when he needs to scratch that pesky itch behind his ear, they are strictly a flop!

In short order Dog goes through spiked heels (great for scratching, not so great for running) and skis (snow not included with each purchase?). Isn't there any foot gear just right for everything Dog likes to do? He heads back to the store, this time to ask for something less fantastical and more practical:

SOMETHING THAT'S GOOD FOR DIGGING AND SWIMMING AND SCRATCHING AND RUNNING. OH, NICE AND FURRY, TOO!

Oh, yeah. There they are, right at the end of each of his legs. Paws! What a concept.

Greg Gormley's just published Dog in Boots (Holiday House, 2011) is a nice re-run of the old "back in your own backyard" theme, all dressed up in Roberto Anganamo's comic drawings of a perky pup who finally decides to leave fancy foot gear to fantasy felines in this upbeat spoof of shoe lust.

Back to School for Skippito: Skippyjon Jones: Class Action by Judy Schachner

SKIPPYJON JONES WAS JUST DYING TO GO TO SCHOOL

And, of course, it's not just any school that the opinionated little Siamese kitty wants--it's the school where all the "Chi-wa-las" go! Mama Junebug says NO, but that's not an answer Skippy ever settles for, and soon he's dressed for the part and through the door of his imagining closet and into a school bus cram-jammed with scholastic canines.

"OH, I AM SKIPPYJON JONES, AND I DON'T GET THE FUSS.

IT'S NOT LIKE A PIGEON IS DRIVING THE BUS!"

MY NAME IS SKIPPITO FRISKITO

AND I'M OFF TO THE SCHOOL FOR PERRITOS!"

But dog school has its downside, with plenty of slobbery schipperkes and baying beagles. Skippyjon, however, soon finds his Chihuahua chums, los poochitos, led by Poquito Tito, and is set to realize his school dreams.

But this school has one student who seems not to be there for obedience training--the enormous, amorphous, and monstrous Woolly Bully, who barges through the lunchroom and scares the tiny chi-wa-las until their perky ears droop and even the intrepid-ito Skippito Friskito drops his snackito!

"GET YOUR DUDS, DUDE!" Poquito cries.

Climbing into his mask-ito and cape-ito, Skippy morphs into superhero El Skippito, and taking a page from the Wizard of Oz, "uncovers" the truth behind the terrifying Woolly Bullito of Barker Academy.

It's a classic Skippyjon, as our feline hero takes on the class bully in the lastest entry in Judy Schachner's best-selling series, in Skippyjon Jones, Class Action (Dutton, 2011), It's a rollicking tail-wagger of a first-day-at-school tale, dotted with Schachner's clever rhymes and hilarious Spanglish in this sure-fire back-to-school fantasy. "Skippyjon's world is as off-kilter, high-energy, and irreverent as ever," says Publishers Weekly.

Buenito, Skippito!

And for your viewing gust-ito, watch the dand-ito preview-ito for this little librito here.

En Pointe: Dogs Don't Do Ballet by Anna Kemp

MY DOG IS NOT LIKE OTHER DOGS.

NO, HE LIKES MUSIC AND MOONLIGHT AND WALKING ON HIS TIPPYTOES.

YOU SEE, MY DOG DOESN'T THINK HE'S A DOG.

Bif is a pudgy, pop-eyed pug who thinks he's a prima ballerina. When his little pig-tailed girl climbs into her tutu and leotard, Biff casts longing glances and begs to come along, and she just has to ask her dad to let him join her in ballet class.

"NO CHANCE!" SAYS DAD. "DOGS DON'T DO BALLET!"

But Bif's ballet lust is not so easily discouraged. The little girl feels that she is being watched through the window as the class runs through a new routine. It's Biff, ready to crash class and show that he's already mastered the new steps. "Dogs DON'T" proclaims Miss Polly, "do ballet!"

But the portly pug persists in his pursuit of ballet practice. He stows away on the bus his owner takes to the ballet school and tries to conceal his rotund form behind signs. And when the class takes a field trip to the city ballet's performance, Biff manages to sneak into the theatre just as the prima ballerina pirouettes right off the stage and into the tuba! It's a disaster for the dance troupe, until a tutu-clad furry figure jetes onstage and picks up the routine right on the beat! It looks as if some dogs do DO ballet! It's bravos all around for Bif!

And it's all in good fun in Anna Kemp's Dogs Don't Do Ballet (Simon & Schuster, 2010), and illustrator Sara Ogilvie provides just the persevering pug to, er, pick up the pace at the City Ballet's performance. The show must go on, and it will, with plenty of chuckles for this determined little doggy dancer.

Speak, Boy! Talk, Oscar, Please! by Karen Kaufman Orloff

OSCAR, YOU GROWL,
AND, OSCAR, YOU BARK.

OH, HOW I WISH YOU COULD TALK!

A boy and his dog, what relationship could be closer? This boy wants to do everything with his pup and dreams of taking him along to school to share that big experience, hoping that Oscar would learn to talk along with his ABCs. And after school...

IF YOU COULD TALK, OSCAR, YOU WOULD COACH OUR NEW TEAM.
WHEN I KICK THE BALL, YOU'LL CHEER AND YOU'LL SCREAM.

If wishing could make it so, Oscar would be receiving, um, the Oscar at the Academy Awards for his elocution, but try as he may, wishing just doesn't make it so. Oscar wags his tail and yips with glee when it's playtime, but still, he's not progressing as a conversationalist. Finally the boy has one consoling thought for his best friend:

OSCAR, SOMETIMES WHEN WE'RE IN MY ROOM PLAYING,
I FEEL LIKE I ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING

.
Karen Kaufman Orloff's new Talk, Oscar, Please! (Sterling, 2011), written in catchy rhyming verse and illustrated by Tim Bowers (illustrator of Andrew Clements' best-seller Dogku) tells the tale of a little boy and his best friend, one story that dog-loving kids will sit and stay for.

Talking Dog Story: RRRalph by Lois Ehlert

OUR DOG CAN TALK!

I ASKED, "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"RRRALPH RALPH!"

What a talented mutt! In Lois Ehlert's just-out collage extravaganza, RRRalph (Beach Lane, 2011), Ralph has an answer for every question.

When his young owner searches for him in the yard and calls for him to tell her where he is, he answers from the top of his doghouse

"ROOF ROOF!"

Storytime audiences and young readers will quickly catch on to the device and begin to predict Ralph's answers to the next questions--what's on tree trunks? "Bark! Bark!,/span>"; that scary critter outside the fence has to be a... "Wolf" at the gate; and Ralph readily answers "Yep! Yep!" to an invitation to enjoy the sanctuary inside the house.

Ralph is a trademark Ehlert collage creation, with button eyes, a soda-can pop-top nose, and a zipper for teeth. Ehlert augments her "found object" collage illustrations with textured paints set against brilliantly bright pages, and with her giggle-getting and brain-teasing wordplay riddles, this latest is sure to earn a BOW and WOW from the picture book crowd.

As one reviewer says, "Bold and bright, filled with kid-pleasing riddles and collage illustrations, this is a perfect offering for new readers and storytime. Will these young readers want to create a sequel? Yip! Yip! --Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)

Ehlert is the undisputed master of this genre. Some of her other masterpieces of collage art books are Waiting for Wings, Leaf Man (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards)), Planting a Rainbow, Color Zoo, and the mega-cool Snowballs.

Move Over, Marley: Marley and the Kittens by John Grogan

"You're in time out, mister!" Mommy ordered.

"What did I do this time?" Marley wondered.

He just wanted to be loved like the kittens, but the more he tried, the more he messed up.

"STUPID CATS! They're so perfect! PURRRRR-FECT!"

"Sometimes I wish I'd never found those kittens!"

A quiet picnic with Mommy, Daddy, Cassie, and Baby Louie suddenly becomes exciting when Marley finds two tiny kittens huddling in the tall grass by the roadside. Of course, the kids are delighted. Cassie christens hers Lucky, while Baby Louie calls the other Yow-Yow. Naturally, Mom and Dad can't leave the furry felines homeless, and Marley suddenly finds his only pet status a thing of the past!

But playing with the kittens looks like so much fun, and as usual Marley jumps right in with all four paws and tail wagging wildly, only to discover that a puppy just doesn't have the native talents that kittens have. Kittens can walk on shelves and counters and never disturb a thing. Kittens can play with the cords on the blinds and make Mommy coo with delight. Kittens can nibble their kibble neatly, and wash their faces and paws nicely. Kittens can explore a new litter box daintily and not spill a granule on the floor. But Marley?--not so much!

After Marley leaps on the counter, sending the coffee canister and cookie jar crashing, slops cat chow wildly as he gobbles down the new treat, and jumps into the kitten-sized litter pan--with predictable results, things begin to get grim at the Grogan house. And when Daddy installs a cat-sized pet door so that the kittens can visit their litter in the garage without Marley's participating in the process, he is delighted with the new door and barges right through, taking the cat entry and part of the basement door with him. Now it's time out for Marley in the corner of the cellar, wishing he'd never seen those too, too purrr-fect kittens.

But the kittens miss Marley and decide to join him in detention, and, of course, with the sight of the three penitents curled up together, a kitten under each of Marley's ears, all is forgiven by the long-suffering Grogan family.

"WADDY! YOU ROCK!: screeches Baby Louie.

Fans of that rascally retriever Marley will be delighted by John Grogan's brand-new picture-book adventure, illustrated by Richard Crowley, Marley and the Kittens (Harper, 2010). Along with his January offering, Marley: Marley Steals the Show (Harper, 2010), it's a double-dog Marleyfest for all lovers of everyone's favorite pesky pet.

Move Over, Rudolph! Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold

Back in her doghouse, Olive was wrapping presents and listening to the radio. She heard that same song again.

"All of the other reindeer..." went the song.

"Olive, the other reindeer..." Olive sang along.

"Olive, the OTHER reindeer?" said Olive. "Hmmm. I must be a reindeer."

It was the time of year when all reindeer reported to the North Pole to help Santa Claus. Olive put down her scissors and marched out the door.

Olive arrives outside Santa's workshop just as he is going through his pre-flight checklist, and St. Nick is a bit perplexed to find Olive lined up beside Dasher and Dancer.

Santa knew a lot about dogs. For instance, he knew
they couldn't fly. But as it was time to go, he decided to give Olive a chance. Comet, the biggest reindeer, used a piece of extra ribbon to make sure Olive was tied in safe and tight. Now they were ready to go.

And in the best Christmas magic tradition, Olive finds that she can fly, dangling just below the eight official coursers. Although Olive is cool with it all, the flying reindeer are so curious about Olive that they fail to gain enough altitude and crash into a tree, leaving Santa's sleigh stuck among the top branches. Of course, chewing sticks is almost a daily duty for dogs, and Olive soon has her crew freed of all entanglements. It's not an uneventful flight that night, but Olive's canine talents come to Santa's rescue repeatedly before the deliveries, made a bit late but thankfully well before dawn, are finally done.

But it is at the end of flight, when Santa is making his final landing approach back at the North Pole, that things get dicey. It's the dreaded North Pole Fog, and even Rudolph's nose couldn't have lighted Santa's way through this one. Luckily, although her nose doesn't glow, it still works in the proper canine manner, and sniffing Mrs. Claus' cookies through the gloom, Olive realizes that she's got the right sniff, er, stuff to complete this mission.

"Olive, won't you guide my sleigh this morning?" pleads Santa, and Olive's doggy sense of smell brings them down right on the runway. For her canine capabilities, Olive the other reindeer is rewarded with her own ceremonial set of antlers with which to join the reindeer games.

J. Otto Seibold's and Vivian Walsh's special edition of Olive, the Other Reindeer (Chronicle Books, 2009) is out for this Christmas season to add to that shelf of traditional "Santa's helper" books.

Available to accompany this newest reindeer recruit is the very popular Olive, the Other Reindeer Pop-Up Advent Calendar and its equally famous companion for the Christmas countdown, the Olive the Other Reindeer CD, narrated by Drew Barrymore--not to mention the plush Olive the Other Reindeer Toy for a complete Olive the other reindeer Christmas.