Read all about it! Edge-of-the-seat drama, a scintillating secret, a heartwarming resolution--it's all here in Laura James and Charlie Alder's The Daily Bark: The Puppy Problem, the first offering in a chapter book series that, if its inaugural title is any indication, will feature all the canine cuteness that's fit to print.
City dachshund Gizmo is forced to move to the village of Puddle after his human, Granny, decides that country living will be better for memoir writing. In Puddle, he befriends Jilly, his Irish wolfhound neighbor, who has four pups. But Jilly has a grim report for Gizmo: "My owners are planning to sell the puppies." Jilly has an idea: she and Gizmo can trawl the village and ask the other dogs if they know of local homes for the pups. Gizmo racks up some new dog friends, but he and Jilly get nowhere with their mission. Now Gizmo has an idea: using Granny's typewriter, he creates a newspaper bulletin urging its readers to "encourage humans with dog-friendly homes to... find the puppies a home!" The success of his plan affirms for Gizmo his talent as a writer, and The Daily Bark, with its all-Puddle-dog staff, is born.
James (the Adventures of Pug series) delivers a giddy entertainment harboring a couple of serious concerns: in addition to Jilly's anxiety about being separated from her pups, there's her shame about her inability to read. As a pup protagonist, Gizmo is a winner, his appeal only enhanced by his athletic limitations, which he demonstrates with a series of pratfalls. Alder (illustrator of the Doggo and Pupper series) runs with The Daily Bark's slapstick and beguiling aspects, using firm lines filled with solid colors to show Gizmo's klutziness and adorableness to full advantage. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author