Move Over Big Dog! Say Hello to Zorro by Carter Goodrich

MISTER BUD HAD IT PRETTY GOOD.

HE HAD HIS OWN HOUSE

HIS OWN BED,

HIS OWN TOYS,

BUT MOST OF ALL--

HE HAD HIS OWN SCHEDULE.

Mr. Bud is a mutt who has it made. He's an only dog, a fusty old dog, who likes things his way every day.

There's wake-up, there's morning dog biscuit time. nap time and roll-over-and-nap time, and best of all, when the folks come home at the end of the day, there's greet-and-make-a-fuss time. Things couldn't be better as long as a dog's life stays on this schedule.

Then, one day at greet-and-fuss time, there is something that derails Mr. Bud's choo-choo. His people come in with a pug pup and words that shake Bud's world:

SAY HELLO TO ZORRO!

Grumpy old dog, meet bossy new dog! Zorro comes with a pile of his own things and plenty of pup attitude. Sharing is not an option, and he has his own ideas about the way things are to be done. Mr. Bud is no longer top dog!

THERE WAS TROUBLE.

But dogs will be dogs, and gradually despite themselves, they find out that they actually like to do the same things at the same time. At outside time they take great joy is chasing Slim, the pesky neighborhood cat, together. They both wait wistfully, muzzles propped on the bed's edge, hoping the folks will wake up and realize it's bright-and-early biscuit time already. Greet-and-make-a-fuss time at night is twice as much fun when there's twice as much fuss. They even discover that snoozing together in a doggy pile is even better than napping alone.

AND EVERYBODY STUCK TO THE SCHEDULE.

In his duo-dog tale, Say Hello to Zorro! (Simon & Schuster, 2011) Carter Goodrich's charming pencil and watercolor illustrations of the two reluctant pals working out their canine rivalries make this book an instant kid magnet. Goodrich puts the dogs front and center on his bright white pages and lets his mutts' comic facial expressions carry the load, while his terse and telling text says it all in just a few choice words on each page. A rousing and heart-warming picture book that's better than a romp in the park.