Gully's Travels by Tor Seidler, illustrated by Brock Cole (Scholastic/di Capua, $16.95, 9780545025065/0545025060, 192 pp., ages 8-up, September)
Seidler is back with a winner in the tradition of his Mean Margaret. From the get-go, readers realize that Gulliver, a purebred Lhasa apso, thinks quite highly of himself and "his professor," who teaches English literature at New York University, and their exquisite five-room apartment at One Fifth Avenue, a stone's throw from Washington Square Park in New York City. The canine's hubris comes to light in his conversation with Rodney, a purebred Schnauzer ("Miniature?" Gulliver asks, provoking a frown from Rodney), whose owner teaches modern art at Hunter College on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In a half-hearted attempt to redeem himself, Gulliver comments on Rodney's "Nice collar," hoping for a compliment in kind that never comes. But it gives Seidler a chance to plant an all-important clue about Gulliver's unusual salmon-colored collar, studded with turquoise set in silver, that later becomes essential to the story. The author carefully builds the foundation for other plot threads, including a transatlantic flight to Paris for Gully and his professor, who dines at Le Petit Café with a beautiful professor of English literature at the Sorbonne (who's allergic to long-haired dogs--you see where this is going). When the romance blooms, Gulliver finds himself in--of all places--Queens(!) with Carlos, their doorman, who calls the pooch "Gully." And here the true adventure begins. The beleaguered cat in Ian Falconer's Olivia has nothing on poor Gully, clutched by Carlos's daughter ("nearly squeezing the life out of him") in Cole's (Good Enough to Eat) delicious pen-and-inks. Both author and artist capitalize on the breed's notorious stubborn streak, showing the Lhasa apso stopping dead in his tracks outside of Rodney's building, or--his loyalty taken to extremes--as he escapes from Queens and masters the subway system in order to return to his professor. After some humbling experiences and after making a key ally of Carlos's charming yet hopelessly untalented aspiring actor son Roberto, Gully learns what true loyalty and friendship mean. This book will have a wide audience among dog devotees, fans of New York and Paris, and those who like a grand adventure. Encore!--Jennifer M. Brown