Mine! Frankie by Mary Sullivan

With no blankie, no toys, no nothing, a squatty pooch with absurdly big ears waits hopefully in a cage at the dog shelter.

Well, she has a name, but she doesn't know it. There is a sign on her door.

Francine

"Frankie"

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And then a woman's hands open the door and reach out to her, with a word.

"Frankie!"

Is that her name? In the car, with her ears blowing back in the breeze from the window, she asks herself, Is that who I am?

In the house she asks herself a another big question:

"Frankie's home?"

But there's already a dog there, a portly brown dachshund--Nico. And Nico has a different idea.

"Nico's home."

Nico thinks of himself as the big dog, the only dog, of the house.

Frankie spots a polka-dot red ball. Could that be her ball?

Nope. Nico grabs it. It's his ball. Ditto for the chew bone, the toy dog, the chew rope, the green blankie, which Nico snatches out from under her, and the monogrammed dog bed, in which he sprawls out regally.

No Way!

Frankie quickly figures out the law according to Nico. It's ALL Nico's stuff!

But Frankie has her own ideas. She'll get her own stuff. She gets busy, rounding up a ball (of yarn), a bone (a toilet paper tube from the wastebasket), a toy (a plush shark from a child's bed), plus a sock for a chewie rope, a washcloth for a blankie, and a cardboard box for a dog bed. Frankie plops down in her "bed" surrounded by her STUFF! Nico gives her a baleful look as he carefully flaunts his own possessions spread all around his bed.

And then Frankie hears something beautiful. It's the woman, calling her name!

And what does she find? Brand-new stuff (with her name on each item)--a ball, a chewie stick, a bone, a blankie and bed, a doggie toy, and a wonderful squeaky green frog! Frankie's in dog heaven, toting everything off to her very own bed!

But Nico's clearly got his eye on Frankie's new green frog....

There's a surprising but satisfying bit of canine negotiation in the Geisel Award-winning Mary Sullivan's forthcoming dog story, Frankie (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017). Sullivan's charming narration, is told chiefly through short and snappy thought balloons and winsome illustrations of the stolid and spoiled only dog and a hopeful and perky rescue pup working out their disputed doggie territory in one household, and how they do it makes for an amusing and heartwarming story of give and take. Her illustrations portray the comedy and pathos of Frankie's determination to make her own place in a world that hasn't always wanted her.

Sullivan rightly keeps the visual focus on the interplay between the two dogs in endearingly drawn comic characterizations that capture their personalities perfectly. While the back of Sullivan's dust cover features a photo of the "real" shelter dog Frankie, her endpapers show an assemblage of pet shelter residents--cats Fluffly, Orange Jello, and Miss Kitty and dogs Broccoli, Shamrock, and the rest, for which young readers may want to create their own adoption stories. A perfect first choice for primary collections and pet lovers alike.

A Lid for Every Pot! Who Wants Broccoli? by Val Jones

A HODGEPODGE OF PETS LIVE AT BEASLEY'S ANIMAL SHELTER.

And among the usual mix of homeless puppies, too-big bunnies, cats and kitties, cast-away parrots and overgrown turtles, there is Broccoli. Left as a pup in front of the shelter in a greengrocers' produce box, Broccoli has always lived in the shelter.

Mrs. Beasley loves all the animals, fluffing them and assuring them that they will all find their perfect "forever home" soon.

"THERE'S A LID FOR EVERY POT," SHE PROMISES CHEERILY.

But big, ebullient Broccoli is a hard pot to fit. He wants so badly to be chosen. But in his zeal to be noticed, he tosses his full water bowl up so that it lands on his head, wetting everyone and everything in range, chases his tail furiously, and barks--LOUDLY. Not surprisingly, nobody finds him the perfect adoptable pet.

But one day as he is looking longingly out the front display window in the shop, Broccoli notices a new boy moving in across the street. Oscar is playing with a ball, and he looks lonely, dreaming of a big, fun dog to play ball with in his big new yard, as lonely as Broccoli feels. He can't help himself...

BARK!  BARK! BARK!

Mr. Beasley mops up the spilled water dish spatters and grumbles, moving poor Broccoli into the storeroom to keep him quiet.

"THIS NOISY, MESSY POT WILL NEVER FIND A LID!" HE MUMBLES.

But Oscar hears that bark. And when his mom feels they are settled in, Oscar, ball in hand, leads her across the street to Beasley's Animal Shelter to look for a big, fun dog to play with. But Broccoli is nowhere in sight, and none of the bunnies, turtles, or hamsters look like the pet he wants. Sadly he shakes his head, and they prepare to leave, Oscar accidentally leaving his ball behind. Mr. Beasley absent-mindedly sticks it in the storeroom.

And Broccoli recognizes that ball.

THE BALL! THE BOY! WHAT COULD BROCCOLI DO?

BARK!

It's a made-in-heaven match, as Oscar hears that bark, the sound of a big, fun dog, in Val Jones' Who Wants Broccoli? (Harper, 2015) and boy, ball, and dog are brought together in a happy ending, in which Oscar joyfully plops his baseball cap--his lid--on the head of his new shaggy friend. Jones' story of true friends found is deftly paced to set up its joyful climax, and her characters are well defined, both in words and in her charming artwork, to make this boy-and-his-dog tale a sweetly satisfying one for young readers who have dreamed of finding the perfect pet. Val Jones' first picture book shows she has much promise as a rising author-illustrator.

Shelter Pup: Puppy's Big Day (Bad Kitty) by Nick Bruel

IN CASE IT'S NOT OBVIOUS, KITTY IS IN A VERY, VERY, VERY BAD MOOD TODAY.

AND NOBODY KNOWS WHY.

IT'S WORSE THAN THE DAY SOMEONE SAID KITTY NEEDED A BATH.

IT'S WORSE THAN THE DAY THEY CANCELED HER FAVORITE TV SHOW CLAW AND ORDER.

Clueless as usual, Puppy is oblivious of Kitty's obvious body language. He's in such danger of having his hide shredded that his owner decides to call for backup to get him out of ground zero.

UNCLE MURRAY IS HERE!

Good ol' Uncle Murray is delighted to play dog-owner-for-the-day, but Bad Kitty provides a hurried cat conniption send off, and Puppy and Uncle Murray have to exit the house at top speed.

Uncle Murray soon has a run-in with the legal requirements of dog ownership. In short order he gets citations from an ornery off-page officer of the law--tickets for having no leash, no poop-scooping equipment, no dog license, and walking Puppy through a NO DOGS ALLOWED park.

"HOLY SALAMI! THIS WHOLE DOG-WALKING THING IS STARTING TO COST ME SOME BIG BUCKS!"

Finally Uncle Murray finds the dog park. Safe at last?

Not really. Puppy soon acquires an ardent admirer, the world's ugliest lady bulldog, who chooses him for her love interest. Assuming that the drooly toy mouse Puppy has been schlepping is a romantic offering, she snatches it. A bad scene ensues--and both dogs are hauled off to the doggy slammer while Uncle Murray is up a tree, protecting what remains of the seat of his pants.

In his latest, Bad Kitty: Puppy's Big Day (Roaring Brook Press, 2015), author-illustrator Nick Bruel has a fine time spoofing the I'm-in-the-Jailhouse-Now scene at the pound, adding a grizzled old Llasa Apso lifer named Gramps and a stir-crazy chihuahua called Hercules, until Uncle Murray finally appears to bail out Puppy. All's well that ends well, with old-softy Uncle Murray adopting the three pound pooches, and when the slimy toy mouse Puppy has carried all the way turns out to be Bad Kitty's lost Mousey-mouse, peace is finally restored at the Bruel/Bad Kitty household and Puppy is (temporarily, we presume) Bad Kitty's best friend.

Along with his full-format picture books, Nick Bruel's latest beginning chapter book, done in comic graphic novel style, is a fine addition to the prodigious Bad Kitty series. Bruel's slapstick sight-gags never fail to crack up youngsters, but his visual and verbal humor is so slyly sophisticated that even grownups find these books sidesplitting read-alouds. As usual, Bruel includes "informational" sections" ("Kitty's Horrible But True Facts About Dogs") on such natural questions as to why dogs must be walked (and cats don't), why dogs lick people's faces (and cats don't), and why dogs sniff butts (and cats don't) that will elicit equal measures of gagging and giggles from young readers.

"As always, Bruel's writing is hilarious, and his excellent illustrations make the story complete. Bad Kitty fans will enjoy this volume immensely," adds School Library Journal.

For more Bad Kitty tales, read my earlier reviews here.

From Stray to Show Stoppers:Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean

Sometimes a dog will show up when a person most needs one.

Sometimes a person will show up when a dog needs one more.

Luciano Anastasini needed something. An acrobat in a fifth-generation Circus family, Luciano found himself seriously injured and able to return to his act when he recovered. He really needed some way to get back to the world he loved, the only world he'd ever known. He needed a second chance.

He could no longer do tricks, but he knew of an animal that could--dogs.

Perhaps he could give some dogs a second chance, too.

And in the local dog shelter, he found some dogs who needed one more chance.

Penny was one who had already failed three times. An young and adorable bichon frise, she drove her owners crazy, spinning in circles, seeming to try to climb the walls. Bowser was a furry-faced thief who snatched his owners' dinners from their plates when their backs were turned and even opened cupboards repeatedly to pilfer the contents. Cocoa was a handsome chocolate Dalmatian whose digging turned his harried owner's backyard into a construction site. Gradually, Luciano rounded out his initial troop of canine rejects with Stick, a trash can-tipping rascal, and Tyke, the world's grumpiest Schnauzer. What could Luciano do with these loser canines?

Luciano observed these dogs carefully. And carefully he formulated his own theory of dog training.

He didn't believe in making dogs do something they didn't do on their own. Dogs like to be busy.

Slowly he fashioned a dog act that played to each dog's natural strength and ability. Bowser was bright, strong, and had great agility and balance. Cocoa had tons of energy and loved to run fast and leap barriers. Tyke, always contrary, liked going down a slide with the other dogs--as long as he could do it backwards. Penny spun in the middle of the act like a little dervish. The act began to come together, as other rescue dogs were recruited--Meemo, Free, Sammy, Rowdy--and found a place doing their thing with the troop.

Today Luciano Anastasini's ten Pound Puppies are circus stars. Luciano is back in the world he loves, and the dogs have found their home and life's work as well. "They saved ME," he says of his dogs.

Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs (Scholastic, 2012) by Michela Muntaen tells this story of lives reclaimed in simple, lucid text, with charming color photos of its photogenic superstars by K. C. Bailey and Stephen Hazmierski, a book that dog fanciers and circus fans of all ages will find intriguing.

Publishers Weekly offers its praise, saying: "...prose and photos that strike an ideal balance between journalism and storytelling."

Home to Stay: A Home for Dixie by Emma Jackson

Once upon a time there were three puppies.... They were sisters, but they didn't have a mother or a father, and they didn't have a home.

Meanwhile, not far away, lived a girl named Emma. For as long as she could remember, she had wanted a dog.

It doesn't take ESP to guess what's going to happen here. After being the responsible owner of a fish named Mariko, a hamster named Pixie, and a guinea Pig named Wilbur, Emma has proved herself worthy of being a dog owner, and her kind parents help her choose the right puppy at Aunt Mary's Doghouse, a private dog rescue facility. The puppy chooses Emma by jumping into her lap, and Emma names the soulfully-eyed pup Dixie.

That first day is wonderful, but when night comes, Dixie begins to whimper with loneliness in her crate in the kitchen and winds up sleeping on the floor of Emma's room. Puppy fun and puppy disasters follow, but Dixie quickly becomes one of the family as she grows.

At first Emma thought they were giving Dixie a new life, but Dixie has given something wonderful to her family, too.

A Home for Dixie: The True Story of a Rescued Puppy, illustrated with charming photographs of this ungainly mutt puppy and her empathetic and proud human friend, is a sunny but realistic look at the process of puppy adoption for young first-time owners.

The book puts in a well-timed plea for adoption from well-run shelters, with a portion of the purchase price going to the support of Aunt Mary's Doghouse. Appended information about dog rescue facilities and advice for a successful homecoming makes this book a great gift for a prospective dog owner.