CATITUDE? Bad Dog by Mike Boldt

"Look what I got for my birthday! A pet DOG!

My dog has a cute little nose.

Her name is Rocky."

But Rocky isn't your usual dog. She won't come when called. She doesn't love to go outside for walks. She refuses to walk on her leash, but she loves to plays with it.

She claws the furniture. She won't come when she's called, or sit, or stay!

And she refuses to do tricks, but she likes to lick her owner's toes.

"EEWWWW! She's a BAD DOG!"

But Rocky is good at climbing trees. She never barks at the mail man. And she never lifts her leg to go potty on the fake ficus plant. She doesn't chew shoes (although she does like to play with the shoelaces). She likes to play with the water in the goldfish bowl, but she doesn't care for baths at all!

Hmmm!

"You know what? I think Rocky would make a pretty good CAT."

Of course, in Mike Boldt's Bad Dog (Doubleday and Company, 2019), Rocky is obviously a fluffy black-and-white cat, and despite her new owner's confusion, exhibiting clearly feline behavior throughout the story that will have kids first bemused, then amused, and finally giggling at Rocky's clearly atypical canine behavior. Mike Boldt's well-paced narration and cute and clever illustrations make this new book perfect for reading aloud and will leave youngsters rolling on the reading rug with hilarity. Not to be missed!

Cravin' a Kraken? Ginny Goblin Cannot Have A Monster for A Pet by David Goodner

Ginny Goblin wants a goat. Several goats, actually.

Her parents are not pleased.

Goats are kind of stinky, and it's a lot of work to take care of them.

Maybe if we can help Ginny Goblin find a pet, she'll stop trying to herd goats through the house.

Ginny's on it in a nano-second, with a bear collar, a huge net, and, uh, an armored tank? Not exactly what her parents have in mind.

Maybe a trip to the beach will inspire her to adopt a teeny-tiny tropical fish or may hap a lovable and low-maintenance hermit crab?

But no. Ginny goes overboard for an aquatic pet. She commandeers a mini-sub on a mission to capture the dreaded tentacled Kraken.

No way, Ginny! Perhaps in those daisy-covered hills she'll fall for a furry little bunny?

Hey! Wait! Ginny! Don't go down in that dank, dark cave and wake up a dragon!

Dragons eat cows in a single bite. Dragons are even crankier than krakens!

Her parents drag Ginny out of the cave just in time to avoid being barbequed by dragon breath and take her into the woods, hoping that she'll become enamored of a small-ish bird. But Ginny gets busy building a trap.

She should not catch a basilisk in her trap.

Basilisks turn everything they look at into stone, and they won't use the litter box.

What's with this penchant for mythical beasts? But now Ginny boards a rocket ship to adopt a space alien! Better abort that mission!

But wait! what's that she's cuddling in her arms? A baby goat? Whew!

Goats don't wrap people in tentacles, or fry the neighbors with fiery breath, or even turn them into marble monuments!

Goats even eat all the weeds in the yard.

A baby goat is not a monster.

Now if they can just keep Ginny Goblin from taking her goat to bed, in David Goodner's tale of a critter-loving tot, Ginny Goblin Cannot Have a Monster for a Pet (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). Picking a (suitable) pet is an important part of childhood, and Ginny's penchant for unsuitable pets makes for a jolly "can I keep him" story for preschoolers and especially for savvy primary graders whose mania for monsters extends to the folkloric.

In the artwork of illustrator Louis Thomas, Ginnie Goblin is a cutie, with her greenish skin and little red overalls, endearing in her enthusiasm for exotic creatures. Goodner's and Thomas's first book together is Ginny Goblin Is Not Allowed to Open This Box. (see my 2018 review here)

Canine Blitzkrieg! The Great Puppy Invasion by Alastair Heim

One day a puppy showed up in little Teddy's town.

Then two. Then hundreds.

The locals panicked. They had never seen puppies before.

There are all kinds of pooches in the onslaught--frizzy, foxy, and fluffy, shaggy and sleek, perky-eared, lop-eared and flop-eared, black, brown, beige, and white ones, brown-spotted white ones, and black-and-tan ones. And all with big bright eyes and wagging tails.

There is a pooch incursion in Strictville!

And with a draconian motto like theirs--All work and no play make for a great day-- the townspeople agree to the decree that any kind of levity is illegal. A puppy invasion is clearly verboten!

The panicked populace try running away, but the pups just bounce hopefully after them. The people toss sticks right at the mutts.

But the puppies brought the sticks right back.

The town is captivated by incredible canine cuteness.

The mayor calls a mass meeting. Rules are reinforced. A moratorium is laid down against fraternizing with the invaders. Teddy's mother forbids him even to look at the puppies.

"Don't touch, Teddy!" she warned.

But the big-eyed little dogs are not so easily dissuaded from socializing with the Strictvillians. Finally the people make a run for it, straight to their dog-hair-free domiciles, and slam their doors tight behind them. The pups yip, and yap, and woof and bow-wow outside.

But Teddy heard a teeny whimper...coming from the tiniest puppy of all.

The puppy sat down on Teddy's lawn, and lifted its front paw....

Oh, no! NOT the wistful whimper and puppy-proffered paw trick..., the deadliest doggy tactic of them all....!

As the townspeople watch warily from their windows, Teddy can't resist taking that little paw in his own small hand, and it's all over for the prudish people of Strictville, who succumb to catastrophic cuteness and begin to adopt that most irresistible pet in the world....

Except... unseen on the outskirts of the city is a little bitty gray kitty, waiting for her turn to take on the town, giving the reader a knowing wink that says, "We'll see who's the cutest. Just you wait...."

It's a win-win for people and pooches in Alastair Heim's forthcoming The Great Puppy Invasion (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2017), a romping riot of puppies whose invasion is persuasion that pets are good for people and vice-versa. With winsome double-page spreads, artist Kim Smith's bold spreads are filled with unabashedly cute illustrations that portray the peace treaty between puppies and people in a most winning way, with plenty of doggy detail on each page to produce a most delightful read for dog fanciers--and with just a whisker of a wink at a potential feline sequel in the works.

Here, Kitty, Kitty! Lost and Found Cat by Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes

A few days earlier, Sura's family had gotten ready to leave. Since they could only bring what they could carry, they had packed just one bag full of food and water.

But Sura had decided that they could not leave without their beloved cat, Kunkush.

Sura's family made their way from the besieged town of Mosul in war-torn Iraq to the Turkish coast. Inside his straw carrier, Kunkush was a cooperative cat, and they managed to make their way onto the boat without anyone noticing their stowaway pet.

Sura prayed that the cat hidden in a small carrier would stay quiet. If the smuggler discovered Kunkush, he would make them pay a great deal more money.

The big white cat kept quiet through the short voyage, and the family waded ashore, with Sura's big brother clutching the cat carrier tightly. But when he reached safety, he put the basket down and went back into the water to help the rest of the family to shore.

And the frightened Kunkush pushed his way out of the basket carrier and quickly disappeared into the forest, running like a deer.

Sura's family and the other travelers called and searched for Kunkush, but he was not found. Finally, they had no choice but to push on with their group on a walk that carried them through Greece and Macedonia, on to Germany, and at last to Norway, where they would make their new home. It seemed that Sura would never see her beloved cat again.

But that was not the end of the story for Kunkush. Some of the Greek volunteers spotted a bedraggled and hungry white cat among the strays begging fishermen for scraps at the dock, and one of them, Amy, took him in and started searching for the little girl who had lost her cat. She knew she couldn't trace Sura's family alone, but she knew something she could do.

Amy's friend in the United States made a Facebook page which made Kunkush, now called Diias, (modern Greek for Zeus) famous. An English couple agreed to keep the cat safe for a while, and at last Sura saw his picture on the news in Norway and instantly recognized her cat. And in a Skype call to Sura's family, their lost cat recognized his famiy and they recognized him, and at long last, the reunion of Sura and Kunkush was arranged.

But at the airport Amy and Kunkush were stopped at the gate. An official declared that Amy's carrier was too small for a cat of his size.

"Why, that cat can't even turn around," he declared, closing the gate.

Kunkush turned around immediately--180 degrees!

Against all odds, there was a happy reunion for Sura and Kunkush in Norway after all, in Doug Kuntz's and Amy Shrodes,' Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey (Crown Books, 2017). Among all the sad accounts of refugees fleeing the Middle East for Europe, this true story gives young readers who can scarcely imagine such a thing an understanding of the hardships of a journey which for refugees means leaving behind everything they love, a home, family, friends, and pets. But in this sweet modern miracle story of human kindness and reunion with a beloved pet, beautifully illustrated by Sue Cornelison. young readers can take away a hopeful look at the current story of war refugees, in which much is left behind, but not all the important things are lost.

You Otter Listen! Otter: Oh, No, Bath Time! by Sam Garton

Teddy and I love to play in the yard.

Oh, no! It looks like rain!

"Do not get muddy!" says Otter Keeper.

Otter Keeper might as well save his breath.

Of course, Otter and his plushy bear buddy are going to get on their yellow slickers and make the most of the shower.

Teddy loves to play in the rain.

Well, judging from Teddy's fixed expression and body language, he's not the one who really loves playing in the rain and mud. (He is, after all, a toy!)

But Otter loves the water. (He is, after all, an otter.) He takes Teddy splashing in the rain puddles and soon Otter Keeper makes a declaration.

"Okay, it's time for a bath!"

But Otter does not like baths. He and Teddy try to hide. They even dress up and wear their Groucho glasses with mustaches. But somehow Otter Keeper seems to recognize them and get them into the suds. And, of course, they take to it like, well, otters to water. It's just as wet and fun as the rain.

So now Otter doesn't want to get out of the bath. Otter Keeper finally has to extract them from the tub and dry them off, hair dryer and all. He orders Otter to stay stay clean and dry for the rest of the day!

But now Otter wants to take another bath. Otter Keeper, however, is not up for doing that all over again.

"NOT TODAY!" he states firmly.

But where there's a will, there's a way, and outside in the yard, there's a lovely puddle waiting at the foot of the slide and Otter knows just what to do with it, in Sam Garton's Otter: Oh No, Bath Time! (My First I Can Read) (HarperCollins, 2016), and even young emergent readers can predict what happens next, as can their parents, who likely already know that for preschoolers, it's hard to get them into the bath and even harder to get them OUT. With Garton's engaging illustrations providing the visual cues for the simple text, this is a good first reader for youngster who have already met the characters in Sam Garton's popular Otter in Space by Sam Garton, (2016-01-01)Otter Goes to School (I Am Otter), and Otter Loves Easter! (I Am Otter).

CAT-astrophe! Teddy The Dog: Be Your Own Dog by Keri Claiborne Boyle

Folks, life is great here in Teddyville.

I'm the Leader of the Pack, the Big Cheese, you might say.

Teddy the Dog is an only dog, an only pet, even, which makes Teddy the Top Dog, the only pebble on the beach, so to speak.

Life is good. He pursues his mission to stop and sniff at will.

If he's hungry, he is free to overturn the hot dog cart and scarf up all the wieners he wants and to leave his signature paw print (in pink) on the neighbor's freshly painted white house.

I'm a charming and fetching dog (who never actually fetches!)

But all that ends abruptly when a special delivery package arrives with a note from Aunt Marge:

Dearest Teddy,

Please take care of little Penelope.

And that's the end of the good life for Teddy. A kitten is an unknown quantity. What do you do with a CAT-ASTROPHE in a box?

Teddy gives it a try. He tries teaching the cat to walk on a leash. But cats don't follow the leader of the pack--or anybody else, apparently. He treats the kitty whom he names Fishbreath to a car ride with her head out the window, with an equal lack of success. A cat with windblown whiskers is not a happy camper. Teddy loves dog paddling during a dip in the neighbor kid's plastic pool, but a swim leaves Fishbreath bedraggled and mad as only a wet cat can be!

Maybe Fishbreath likes to play ball? She stares unenthusiastically as it rolls by her cozy cat bed.

I did find there was one thing we could agree on.

Neither of us is going to fetch.

Teddy the Dog decides to try a little psychology on Penelope. He follows her lead and tries sitting in a box.

A cat can be a tough customer when it comes to behavior modification. As veteran cat owners can testify, a cat's personal creed has always been "I did it MY way." But, hey! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as Teddy concedes that a catnap with Penelope in a comfy chair is something a dog and cat can share, in Keri Claiborne Boyle's first picture book outing for her noted cartoon dog, Teddy the Dog: Be Your Own Dog (HarperCollins, 2016). With an easy-going theme of "different-strokes-for-different folks," Boyle's text is buoyed by Jonathan Sneider's clever illustrations which poke gentle fun at both Teddy's overblown ego and Penelope's hoity-toity cat-hood on their way to a live-and-let-live Grand Alliance--for which all owners of both a cat and dog around the house can only hope.

Rescue Me! The Grumpy Pets by Kristine A Lombardi

MOM TOOK BILLY AND SARA TO PERFECT PETS ONE SATURDAY.

MOM WORRIED THAT BILLY ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE UNHAPPY. SHE HOPED A SPECIAL TRIP WOULD GIVE HIM A REASON TO SMILE.

Little sister Sara gloms immediately on the cute kitties and perky puppies up front in the store.

WHO COULDN'T SMILE WITH SUCH CUTENESS AROUND?

Well, Billy, for one. The cutesy critters hold no appeal for him. Blech!

While Sara coos over the kittens, Billy drifts down the aisles toward the rear of the store. Way past the big boxes and bags of pet chow, there are some animal crates stacked back there, and he hears a few growls and hisses. Billy is curious.

He soon sees why. These animals are NOT cute. There's a snarly lizard, a huffy hedgehog, and a truly intimidating turtle.

ROW UPON ROW OF SCRUFFY, GROUCHY FACES.

THEY WERE CREEPY, CRANKY, AND MOODY.

Suddenly, Billy feels right at home with these grumpy pets. And then he sees the little grouchy gray dog. He makes a mean face at the dog, and the dog returns the frown right back. Billy steps up closer and their eyes meet.

SLURP! The grumpy dog likes him!

"I'LL TAKE HIM!" SAYS BILLY, WITH A SMILE.

Billy finds his soulmate pet, in Kristine A. Lombardi's The Grumpy Pets (Abrams Books, 2016). With Grumpy Cat a media star, cranky critters have come to have a certain cachet, and Lombardi's illustrations give even the grumpy pets a certain appeal that kids will get right away. Billy goes home as happy as he can be, and even the dog seems to have found a bit of a smile in this animal rescue story with a double happy ending.

For a perfect pairing of happy pet endings, read this one with Val Jones' heartwarming story about a gung-ho dog who has a hard time making a good first impression in her Who Wants Broccoli?(See my 2015 review here.)