Dogs Love Cars

August 15, 2021
Created by dog lovers for dog lovers and dog owners-to-be. When a kid and their parents head to the car for a busy day, their three dogs charge ahead. The dogs' ears flap in the breeze on the drive to the dog park, where both dogs and their owners get wrapped up in play--and leashes. A different topic for each spread captures the world of loved dogs: It's full of rides, walks, playmates (canine, human, and feline), naps, toys, food that tempts from the tabletop, and even school. Each situation is loaded with options and opportunities for antonyms, delivered in an infectious chant: "Dogs love walks. // Short walks and long walks, / up hills and down, / walks in cities and countryside, / fast and slow walks, / off leash and on." Humorous cartoon illustrations realistically show dogs of all shapes and sizes being "good dogs" even as they roll in the mud, tear up their toys, get in the way of chores, and share a love/hate relationship with the family cat. These responsible dog owners keep their dogs on leashes at community events such as a farmers market that shows the vigorous diversity of this White-presenting family's community. At the end of the day, dogs do what dogs do best: "DOGS LOVE YOU, / all the time." A humor-filled love letter to the dogs that love humans so unconditionally. (Picture book. 3-8)

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November 1, 2021
Grades K-2 What do dogs love? Just about everything, as this simple, fulsome valentine to the canines in our lives tallies up: car rides and walks, toys and naps, meeting people and other dogs, food ("Most food. / Dog food, tasty treats, / biscuits and butter, / chicken and cheese, / other dogs' food, / your food. / Watch out!"), and even cats ("Sometimes"). In Meisel's suitably waggish cartoon illustrations, dogs by the pack in a great variety of breeds and mixes trot, flop, drool, cavort, and dash about, tangling their leashes as their owners--one beaming child in particular who joins three pooches in a final cozy sprawl--look on happily. Most of all, of course, "DOGS LOVE YOU, / all the time." A doggy delight, as energetic and appealing as Sue Stainton's I Love Dogs! (2014) illustrated by Bob Staake, and a fine complement to Chris Raschka's wordless but emotionally epic A Ball For Daisy (2011).

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July 1, 2021
Dogs certainly do love cars. And they love walks and other dogs and napping and toys and so many things. Schubert expands on each thing that dogs love in her rhythmic free-verse text: "Dogs love school. // Sitting, staying, / lying down. / Coming when called. / Lots of 'good dog' treats. / Learning -- / and forgetting!" Enhancing the affectionate text's humor, Meisel's sprightly pen-and-ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations put those good boys and girls front and center.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)