THE BOOKSHOP DOG

A sweet tale of canine love. Martha Jane is a yellow lab. Her owner loves her so much that she takes her everywhere, and names her business after her: ``Martha Jane's Bookshop.'' But when the woman learns that she must go to the hospital for a tonsillectomy, she worries. Who will take care of Martha Jane? A brawl ensues, as the dog's many friends vie for the privilege of caring for her. Then one of Martha Jane's most ardent admirers arrives. ``He knelt down beside Martha Jane and stroked her smooth head and kissed her warm white face and told her what an angel dog she was.'' Martha Jane chooses this man, and so does the woman: She marries him. In tight, gently lyrical prose, woven with plenty of tongue- in-cheek humor, Rylant (The Old Woman Who Named Things, p. 452, etc.) tells not only a story of a shop and its keepers, but of an entire community possessing loads of good will. Rylant's visual depiction of Martha Jane is ever so appealing, and if the primitive illustrations don't please everyone, the story and its sentiments certainly will. (Picture book. 3+)