Cool Dog, School Dog
PreSchool-Grade 2—Tinka, a golden retriever, is "a joy dog,/a boy's dog,/a chews-a-brand-new-toy dog." She loves her boy and doesn't like being left at home when he boards a bus on a fall morning. When Mom isn't looking, the "spring-and-sprint-and-streak dog" races to school, runs through the halls causing mayhem, and ends up finding her boy in his classroom. Although she makes the teacher unhappy by messing up the room, the students are delighted by Tinka's presence and find that the pup loves a read-aloud. In the end, she's "a please-come-every-day dog." Bowers's vivid acrylic illustrations are full of expression, from the pup peeking through a screen door while waiting to make her move to the smiling children and teacher waving good-bye at the end of the day. Youngsters will like learning with each turn of the page just what makes this dog so special.—Adrienne Wilson, Edith Wheeler Memorial Library, Monroe, CTEND