SHEEP DOG AND SHEEP SHEEP

Can Sheep Dog pull the wool over Sheep’s eyes? She isn’t so easily fleeced.

The farmyard pals, introduced in Sheep Dog and Sheep Sheep (2019), return. Sheep’s lush, woolly coat, which she loves to style, is too long; it falls over her eyes. Sheep Dog suggests a good shearing, but Sheep obstinately demurs. She opts for a ten-gallon hat but quickly abandons the oversized headgear (it doesn’t bring her joy). Sheep Dog raises the haircut idea again, but this time, Sheep has abandoned her friend, preferring to hide from him in a bush. She admits she’s not ready to part with her wool. However, when a duckling (“a water chicken,” as Sheep calls it) points out that her fleece will grow back, Sheep can’t wait to be shorn. It turns out she loves her shorter coif, but when she tells Sheep Dog it’s now his turn for a trim, guess who’s not so keen to seize the scissors? This is a lively, humorous romp, and readers who are less than thrilled to submit to haircuts themselves will relate. The supportive relationship between the friends is sweet and charming, and the fine-lined cartoon illustrations are comical and very expressive. Kids will appreciate Sheep’s funny antics and dialogue. Occasionally, both characters’ speech is set in large capital letters for dramatic emphasis, and onomatopoeic words are used to good effect.

This caper is, ahem, shear fun for young readers.