You?

April 27, 2009
A joyous ode to the love of dogs, Radunsky's (The Mighty Asparagus
) latest is even bilingual—the dogs' barks have been translated from “dog-ese” into English by Radunsky's “learned dog, Tsetsa.” A scruffy brown-and-white mutt hangs around the park looking for an owner, falling in love with every dog-walking human who walks by. On the bench opposite, a big-eyed girl in a polka-dot shift sees the same passersby, but she's interested in the dogs. The dog's wishes are occasionally self-defeating, but more than anything they express his excitable nature (“And what about you, Mr. Whitepants? You already have a dog, too? It looks like everybody has a dog these days”). By contrast, the girl's thoughts are marked by a sense of wonder (“Wow! You're a roller-skating dog! I want you”). Painted with gouache on tea-colored paper, Radunsky's figures are lumpy, colorful shapes accentuated with calligraphic scrawls and curls of black ink, giving them a hapless, lovable look. Visual cues make it clear these two are meant for each other, and the exciting finale in which they meet will be hard to resist. Ages 3–7.

June 1, 2009
PreS-Gr 2-Radunsky offers up a riff on Chris Raschka's "Yo! Yes?" (Scholastic, 1993). Both stories deal with two lonely souls divided by the book's gutter, and it isn't until one character crosses over the boundary that they discover happiness. In Raschka's case, the protagonists are boys, and the dialogue is comprised of 34 words. Radunsky populates a park with a dog and a girl on opposite sides of a hedge. The two are arrayed in white (fur and a dress, respectively) with taupe spots/polka dots; the child's movements subtly mirror the dog's. Their clipped sentences, filled with longing, are directed at the owners and pets who parade past. (The author credits his own pooch with "the translation from Dog-ese to English.") Comic relief comes from the odd combinations of people and pups that pass by, the quickly shifting loyalties of the two lead characters as they imagine life with the objects of their affection, and the antics of the canine hero. In watching a woman and her six shaggy bundles of energy, he barks: "What are those? Crows? Flying mops? Look, I can fly, too!" He careens off the bench looking very silly indeed. Tan, handmade paper provides a warm background for the gouache figures. Rough edges and an overlay of quick, loose lines produce a vitality that is well suited to this tale. Any child who has ever wanted a pet or experienced loneliness will rejoice at the climax. Perfect for storytimes and laps; even better with pups."Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2009
Preschool-G Warning to parents: this story will intensify any unfulfilled pleas for a dog from your children. In this quirky tale, a little girl wants a dog to love, while an ownerless little dog wants a person to love. Both are alone in the park one day (the dog on one page, the girl on the other), as a parade of canines and their owners file by: an old man with an old dog, a girl and pooch on roller skates, and so on. In each case, neither dog nor owner pays attention to the original dog or little girl. Of course, at the end the two lonesome souls find each other. The juxtaposition of the dogs and girls efforts on opposite pages effectively frames their appeals. Insets translate the dog dialogue; for example, Arf! Woof! Bow wow really means, Wait! Come and lean on me, grandma! Your old dog could lean on me, too! Brush-stroked images in gouache on handmade paper are just off-kilter enough to feel both endearing and spontaneous. A tail-wagging good tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
A little girl and a stray dog, unaware of each other, find themselves simultaneously thinking forlorn thoughts as they witness various dog-owner combos at a park. Their loneliness is so palpable that readers will be rooting for them to find each other (they do). Gouache illustrations in Radunsky's recognizable style set against tan handmade-paper backdrops are emotive.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)