BLUE DAISY

A homeless dog transforms a neighborhood.

When a skinny, filthy dog suddenly appears, next-door neighbors Sam and Katie immediately notice. They watch her get shooed out of the Wilson sisters’ flower garden. They see the Tracy twins (the biggest, meanest kids in their grade) throwing rocks and chasing her on their bikes. As Sam and Katie search everywhere for the dog, the Tracy twins are also looking for her. Discovering the dog asleep under a table Sam’s father just painted blue, Sam and Katie are inexplicably spurred to paint a blue daisy on her back, prompting neighbors to take notice and call her Blue Daisy. Sam and Katie feel Blue Daisy should be their dog since they’re “the ones who like her best,” but they also feel guilty about painting her. They don’t understand why Blue Daisy prefers the Tracy twins, but those mean kids have somehow earned her trust. In alternating voices, Sam and Katie tell the story of how Blue Daisy finds a home and how they find new friends, with Sam speaking in verse, Katie in prose in a different typeset; speech in both portions is indicated by italics rather than quotation marks. Black-and-white illustrations capture key events and depict most core characters with pale skin; a recipe section includes a couple of Blue Daisy’s favorite treats.

An easy-to-read, heartwarming lesson in trust-building.