MOOSE AND VIOLET KNOCK THINGS DOWN

An exuberant pooch and a quirky young human embark on a mission to save the world.

Moose’s gift is strength, but he hasn’t mastered controlling it—or apologizing for the chaos he leaves in his wake. Shadow, the puppies’ feline instructor, tells them that today, they’ll have to leave the “magical puppy world” behind and locate the rest of the superpup pack, who have disappeared—possibly to the human world. Moose leaps through a portal and finds himself in the middle of a fountain. He soon meets his first human, Violet, who’s stunned to discover he can talk but offers to help him on his quest, which involves tracking down a magic ball. Moose and Violet realize that the ball is on exhibit at a local museum, but their attempts to extract it, strung out over six chapters, wear thin. Powell never makes it clear what the magical puppy world is or what dangers the pups are protecting the human world from. Still, the titular characters make an entertaining pair, with Type A Violet serving as an effective foil for goofball Moose. The pooch’s irrepressible high spirits are endearing; readers will identify with his moments of doubt and his inability to remember the rules that govern the human world. In the perky cartoon illustrations, Violet presents East Asian.

A lighthearted odd-couple tale for burgeoning fantasy fans.