THAT PUP!

A pleasant golden retriever puppy finds a stash of acorns in her backyard as well as a new friend in this super-simple tale suitable for toddlers moving from board books into real stories.

The unnamed female puppy is sniffing the fall breeze when she catches an intriguing scent, digs furiously and finds her first buried acorn. She digs up a total of ten acorns in different locations in her yard relating to the fall scene, such as a pile of leaves and a pumpkin patch. In each illustration the squirrel who buried the acorns is watching, but partially hidden behind leaves or fence or wheelbarrow. When the squirrel confronts the puppy about the acorns, the dog agrees to change her game from “find the acorn” to “put back the acorn.” The final pages show the two animals working together to replace the acorns in their hiding places in the yard. The short, easy text is set in large type with just a sentence or a few words per page. Though the plot seems slight at first, there is a real story here about taking things that don’t belong to you and putting things right after a misunderstanding, right on target for younger preschoolers. Gouache illustrations of the appealing puppy and concerned squirrel use simple layouts and lots of white space to convey the amusing antics of the puppy, decked out in a red polka-dot bandana that provides a bright contrast with the pumpkins on the cover illustration.

Short, sweet and satisfying. (Picture book. 2-5)