BABY SHOWER

Zoe wants a pet more than anything. She even dreams about it, and on the night before her aunt’s baby shower, she dreams of animal babies. “Lambs [loll] on lawns,” baby “[r]abbits [rain] on rooftops” when the weatherman reports “a downpour of babies.” Her gift to Aunt Ellie is a picture of that baby-animal shower. When she and her mom leave the baby shower, a spark of thunder and lightning and—lo!—a wet little puppy appears, the answer to Zoe’s dreams. She names him Baby, and when Aunt Ellie has her twins—a boy and a girl—Zoe introduces her puppy: “I have a new baby, too!” Adorable pictures with winsome prints and patterns and lots of white space bring out the lovingly detailed figures of children, animals and adults. An engaging and ever-so-slightly surreal treatment of an age-old childhood wish. (Picture book. 4-7)