LITTLE LUCY GOES TO SCHOOL

A curious beagle who gets loose in school sees all sorts of new things in this early-reader tale that has faint echoes of “The Gingerbread Man.”

When Bobby forgets his lunch in the hustle and bustle that is the family’s morning, his mom and Lucy deliver it to his school. But the little pup’s wriggles set her free to explore the school, allowing her to meet lots of familiar school faces: some students, the lunch lady, the custodian and, finally, her own boy—Bobby—in his classroom. Each person she meets yells for her to “Stop!” since “Dogs don’t belong in school! Lucy heard her, but she didn’t stop.” By the end, those in pursuit have formed a parade of sorts, though the setup is too long and the chase too short to completely mirror the familiar folk tale. Those who have been in a school will recognize much of what Lucy sees on her adventure, though many are seen from a dog’s (low) point of view. Blank space within the brightly colored pictures holds the medium-font text, which features short sentences in short paragraphs on each page. Full bleed single- and double-page–spread illustrations extend the story but don’t help much with decoding, properly befitting a Step into Reading Level 3 title.

Children will likely long to see a dog in their own schools as they decode their ways to reading success.