With a style and a friendship theme reminiscent of his Caldecott Medal–winning My Friend Rabbit, author and artist Eric Rohmann here leavens grief with just the right amount of humor. He gives you a hint of what he's up to with a transparent page overlaid on the title page. An alert, vibrant dog carries a bone; then, with the turn of the page, we see just the skeleton of the dog (still holding the bone). There's nothing creepy or macabre about the rendering. In fact, it looks playful. In this way, the author-artist sets a lighthearted tone that he carries through the book.
Ella the dog, and Gus the boy "had been friends for a long, long time," the book begins. They lead a parade of dogs in the opening illustration. One night under a full moon, Ella tells Gus, "I'm an old dog and won't be around much longer. But no matter what happens, I'll always be with you." The rest of the book shows how Gus copes with his loss: "He didn't want to do his chores. But he did." For Halloween, Gus dresses like a skeleton and is horrified when a group of real skeletons rise from the graveyard to join him. When they learn he's a boy, they surround him. But Ella comes to his rescue, rounding up neighborhood canine friends who pose their own threat to the boney bullies. A closing image of boy and dog-guardian under a full moon brings the story full circle and reassures children that the spirits of their loved ones are always near. --Jennifer M. Brown, children’s editor, Shelf Awareness