Caldecott Honor artist David Ezra Stein (Interrupting Chicken) introduces a pup with pizzazz and a healthy sense of self.
"I'm my own dog," says the furry hero. "Nobody owns me. I own myself." While other dogs get carried in a satchel or strain at a leash, the canine narrator leans freely against a fire hydrant. Stein serves up the puns ("I work like a dog all day"; "When I get home, I fetch my own slippers") and portrays the pooch's self-sufficiency: "Sometimes I throw a stick. Then I go get it. It's fun." He demonstrates the dog's self-esteem when the canine licks the reflection in the mirror and says, "I am a good dog." The trouble starts when the dog has an unreachable itch and lets a "little guy" scratch it, then allows the tie-wearing gent into the house. Soon the dog is leading the man by a leash and teaching him the stick game ("I have him throw").
Stein's pen, marker and watercolor create as much emotion as he does humor. He uses similar shapes and corresponding shades of cream, gray and red (on the dog's collar and on the man's tie) to connect the pair visually. They even sport the same grin when squirrel-spotting. Even youngest readers will laugh at how the canine narrator turns things topsy-turvy between man and his best friend, while adults will appreciate the pup standing in for a child making his first foray into independence. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness