An unseen narrator calls after an endearingly scruffy pooch named Fred in Yasmeen Ismail's (Inside, Outside, Upside Down) twist of a bedtime tale, in which the canine hero resists bedtime just as fiercely as a child would.
Clocks sound the witching hour of 8 p.m. all over the house (bong bong). "It's time for bed, Fred!" the book begins. A blur of black fur disappears off the right-hand margin of the next illustration, sending a vase, glasses, letters and shoes willy-nilly: "Oh no, Fred, where are you going?" The playful text makes the most of the double-meaning of a flower bed ("That's not your bed, Fred!"), where the dog gets down in the dirt. His antics in a pile of leaves and a "muddy puddle" lead up to--you guessed it--"Bath time!" Fred looks positively glum in the pink pedestal tub, so it's no surprise that he goes tearing down the stairs, rubber ducky, towel and bubbles trailing behind him. Youngsters will gleefully respond to Fred's other hiding places as he tries his best to shake off his bathwater and pursuers. He gets a story before bed ("But just one") and tries out a number of sleeping spots before tucking into his own.
Fred throws off charm as easily as he does water droplets, careening around the pages and tearing through his house and yard. The author-artist makes evident just how beloved this dog is, no matter how much he misbehaves. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness