PEG LEG PEKE

Even though the sweet Pekingese has a boo-boo, he still has ample use of his imagination. His leg in a stiff blue cast, Peke becomes Peg Leg Peke, no longer an injured pup but a pirate. As his imagination takes over, the beige and white of the first few pages makes way to opaque blues and greens and a brilliant purple treasure chest. Subtle eyebrow movements and wags of the tail let readers take the emotional temperature of their fuzzy white hero. Peke’s speech-bubble responses to an offstage, unnamed voice establish a classic preschooler-to-adult relationship, the indulgent grown-up helping to take Peke’s mind off his injury. Large typefaces and repeated language couple with humor to make this a fine offering for the newest reader. Pair this with Antoinette Portis’s Not a Box (2006) for a look at the fun of creative play to lift anyone’s spirit, even someone with a broken paw. (Picture book. 4-7)