THE POCKET DOGS

Even the most secure and loving situations can have their unexpected rough patches, scary episodes that come and go, such as the one that figures in Wild’s (Midnight Babies, p. 191, etc.) story. Mr. Pockets is a flighty, but affectionate gent (and is so captured by King’s equally wiggly and homey watercolors) who wears a great, baggy coat come rain or shine, summer or winter. The coat, appropriately, has two very big pockets into which Mr. Pockets tucks his little dogs Biff and Buff. They go everywhere together. But when a hole develops in Biff’s pocket, life becomes a shade precarious. As the hole gets bigger, Biff gets the willies. He tries to hide from Mr. Pockets, not wanting to fall through the hole and get lost, but Mr. Pockets always finds him. Then it happens: At a busy shopping market, Biff takes a tumble and loses sight of Mr. Pockets and Buff. Good-hearted folk at the market try to aid him in finding his home, but he is unhappy and flees each kind embrace. Then Mr. Pockets appears out of the forest of legs and sweeps Biff up. Later that evening, he also sews his pocket. King fills his pages with little bits of humor: a mouse peeking out of his hole, a bird unraveling the pocket, and two of the goofiest little dogs around. As a result, a strong current of reassurance flows through this mild drama, a tribulation that young readers can learn to accept will likely turn out just fine. (Picture book. 3-7)