YOU?

A scruffy little white-with-brown-spots mutt is alone in the park. “Woof, woof, bow wow, arf, arf, bow wow!” he says (translation is thoughtfully provided: “Here I am, alone in the park. No owner. No leash. No collar”). A dark-haired girl in a white-with-brown-polka-dots dress is similarly alone, although she speaks English. They are separated by a hedge that runs along the gutter. Congenial human-dog pairs pass by, page by page, and with each turn, dog and girl wish wistfully that the owner (or dog) belonged to them. Radunsky makes the most of his canvas, the dog, girl and bits of shrubbery and park furniture static elements in the tableaux as the happy pairs pass by. Thin, energetic lines define the forms minimally on gouache blobs of color, all arrayed on a generous expanse of buff-colored handmade paper. Although the end is never in doubt, the creative owner-and-dog couples (one roller-blading woman is accompanied by an Afghan that sports roller blades on each paw) and the heartfelt, plaintive dialogue will hold readers’ interest, and the wait makes the inevitable discovery—“Woof! YOU!”—all the sweeter. (Picture book. 3-7)