Care Of A Companion

Unless you have two or more dogs at once or you stagger the time they enter your family and if you are fortunate, there will be considerable years between one puppy and the next.  This gap, although most welcome, makes it seem at the arrival of a new dog as if it's the first one to ever be residing in your home.  How could you have forgotten the weeks of sleepless nights during housebreaking?  Did all your other canine companions combined chew as much as this dog?  You're certain you would be wealthy beyond imagining if you had a penny for every time you wished you had as much energy as this new bundle of fur.

It's time to refresh your skills and knowledge of canine communication.  Our Very Own Dog (Candlewick Press, January 10, 2017) written by Amanda McCardie with illustrations by Salvatore Rubbino is a charming and informative title about welcoming a dog into your home.  It's never too early or too late to learn what we can do for them and what they always do for us.

A dog came to live with us when I was four.

Sophie introduced herself by placing her nose on the four-year-old girl's hand.  To make her new home inviting the family provided her with her own space, a place to eat, toys, a collar and leash.  Our narrator tells us the benefits of having toys for chewing and a properly fitted collar with correct information engraved on the tags.

As a rescue dog Sophie was hesitant around the girl's father but how he looked at her and the tone of his voice won her trust and will win the trust of your pooch pal, too.  Giving dogs a proper meal, especially their favorite foods further builds the bond.  Although we can't speak dog and they can't speak human, there are simple, effective means of being understood.  Did you know dog's whiskers are useful "feelers"?

When words were consistently connected to favorable activities, even when softly spoken, Sophie perked right up.  (I know it to be true a dog can hear a package of cheese being opened from one side of the house to the other.)  Sophie like all dogs enjoyed being with other canines, racing in the park and sniffing everything for new messages.  Our young guide makes sure we know proper dog responsibilities like scooping poop and keeping dogs on leashes.

A dog's sense of smell is so keen we have to be ever vigilant in keeping certain things away from their reach.  A plate full of sausages were not meant to be Sophie's dinner but she consumed them regardless.  Grooming and petting varies for all dogs but Sophie much preferred the idea of leaping into the tub with her little girl rather than getting a bath herself.  A jumping-in-all-the-mud-puddles kind of day taught Sophie's family one final thing about her.  It was the best thing of all.


Readers will be easily enveloped by the story of Sophie's arrival and her place in the family at the little girl's home through the first person narrative penned by Amanda McCardie.  The added conversations presenting particulars relative to points in the story flows flawlessly.  This is an excellent way to educate readers in the context of real life situations.  Here are some sample passages.

Sophie loved to chase a ball.
She'd run so fast that her ears turned inside out.
Go, Sophie!

She'd drop the ball for you to throw---
then snatch it up herself.

Dogs can't sweat to cool down the way we do (except on the pads of their paws).
Panting helps to cool them when they get hot.


You'll want to give Sophie and her human girl big hugs as soon as you see them featured on the matching dust jacket and book case.  Rendered in mixed media these illustrations (and those throughout the title) by Salvatore Rubbino radiate welcoming warmth.  The smooth brush strokes and varied pressure generating texture are superb.  Using a crisp white background heightens our focus on the family and Sophie.  To the left, on the back, we are treated to two interior scenes from the book with the girl and Sophie playing throw and fetch.  Here is where we can also see Rubbino's attention to detail in the bee near a flower and a bird picking up a twig for nest building.

On the opening and closing endpapers spread before us like a patterned gallery are thirty-six different dogs in varying poses. I know the one carrying a slipper will bring on the smiles.  On the verso and title pages Salvatore Rubbino begins his pictorial interpretation.  The parents have just walked into the home carrying a crate with Sophie inside.

With each page turn we enter deeper into the world of Sophie and her new family, alternating between two page pictures, small images grouped on single pages and illustrations extending across the gutter to the next page.  The body postures and facial expressions on all the characters are endearing.  The items in the little girl's home and the clothing worn by everyone make you want to jump right into this story.  These are the kind of people you want as neighbors.

One of my favorite of several illustrations is the walk leading to the park.  Across two pages with shifting perspectives, back to front, we see people participating in all forms of activities.  Many of them are accompanied by their dogs.  If you wanted to frame happiness, this would be a wonderful portrayal.


This title, Our Very Own Dog written by Amanda McCardie with illustrations by Salvatore Rubbino, will be a splendid addition to your professional and personal bookshelves.  The incidents in the story are delightfully normal making the factual comments simply the best.  At the end of the narrative the author speaks about finding out as much as you can about dogs before you bring one into your life.  She offers five body language emotions exhibited by dogs, three useful titles and an index.  She points out the two types of fonts found in the book, one signifying the continuing narrative and the other for separate pieces of information.

To learn more about Amanda McCardie and Salvatore Rubbino please follow the links attached to their names taking you to the pages about them at the Walker UK website.  At the Candlewick Press website you can view my favorite illustration.  You will find more about Salvatore Rubbino at Children's Book Illustration.  Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson highlights Salvatore Rubbino and his first book on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to take a peek at the titles chosen this week by other bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Positive Power Of A Pal

With storms like Juno and Linus dropping record amounts of snow in the Midwest, East and Northeast this winter and temperatures dipping daily into the negative numbers without the wind chill, words like cozy, cuddle and snuggle are being freely exchanged in conversations.  Personally I can think of no better companion for comfort in these cold winter months than a furry friend.  Thankful for being chosen by my chocolate Labrador Xena especially with her body temperature of over one hundred degrees and her rhythmic breathing when curled up next to me gives me the courage to say, "Bring it on winter.  We are good to go here in northern Michigan."

The value of dogs in our society as companions, for search and rescue, as modes of delivery and transportation and for use in therapy continues to grow.  We learn far more from them than they do from us.  Regardless, as we seek the perfect pal, over and over again they single us out as their forever friend.  In 2013 a family sought a puppy for their home.  One decided their son was the human for him.  Naptime for Theo & Beau (Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan, February 3, 2015) written and illustrated by Jessica Shyba will spread a warmth throughout your body and soul from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.

Beau is sleepy.
Theo is sleepy.

When Beau, the little boy, and Theo, the little pup, start to get dozy, it's clear their internal clocks are saying it's naptime.  No more playing, romping or running.  It's time to sleep and sleep deeply.

Will their dreams be filled with fun?  I'll bet there is lots of laughing and barking.  Which position is the most satisfying?  As long as they are together it does not matter whether they are on their backs or bellies.

Skin to skin they breath out and in.  Their bodies aligned bind them.  One becomes the pillow for the other.

Total trust allows for this kind of companionable slumber; boy and pup moving in sync as they shift in sleep.  Nose to nose, hand to fur, and paw to body, nothing can separate these two.  This calm and quiet, between a boy and a dog, is measured in love.


Simple phrases, no more than four words each, define the experience shared by Theo and Beau.  Jessica Shyba frames her ideas so the youngest of readers can match the text with the illustrations.  A comparison, a naming of opposites, creates a peaceful pulse, like two heartbeats, page by page.  She brings the narrative full circle beginning with the introduction of Beau and Theo and concluding with words of love not spoken but seen.  Here are two short phrases.

Sleeping right-side up.
Or upside down.


In an article written for Huffington Post, How Theo And Beau's Naptime Love Story Changed Our Lives, Jessica Shyba explains how the first photograph of Theo and Beau was sent to her husband in a text message and then posted to Instagram.  This image and others quickly went viral. The picture seen on the cover, the close-up of Theo and Beau, is reversed on the back of the dust jacket showing them on their side and stomach respectively, farther away from the reader. (I am working from an F & G sent to me by friend, school librarian extraordinaire John Schumacher and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read.)  The opening and closing endpapers are a series of snapshots of Beau and Theo sleeping, framed in various colors overlapping one another.  The title page illustration extends across the gutter to the left.  The boy and his pup are sleeping on their backs as close together as they can get.

All of the photographs span across both pages, most of them zooming in on the faces of the dozing duo.  I know from experience how many pictures of sleeping people or dogs need to be taken to capture what Jessica Shyba presents to her readers.  She skillfully conveys the bliss of rest between two treasured friends.  The play of light and shadow, the variety of positions between the boy and the dog and the expressions on their faces are beautiful. Several times the looks are nearly identical.  I wonder if they were sharing a dream.

Picking a favorite image from this title is next to impossible for me.  The picture for the words

Cheek to cheek

is so sweet you feel as though you could melt from the sheer cuteness.  Beau is lying on his back, arms stretched out to his sides.  Theo's head is resting on Beau's cheek with his little puppy body stretched out perpendicular.  His one ear is flopped out on top of Beau's T-shirt.  Shyba chose to bring us close to the two.


I can already hear the sighs, ohs and ahs as this title is read to guys and gals no matter their age.  Naptime with Theo & Beau written and illustrated by Jessica Shyba is one of those books taking readers to an everyday pleasure in life which often gets overlooked but is meaningful.  It's hard to top the true grace of a sleeping child with their puppy friend.  I would plan on multiple copies of this little gem.  You could pair this title with SnoozeFEST by Samantha Berger with illustrations by Kristyna Litten,  Goodnight Songs by Margaret Wise Brown, or All The Awake Animals Are Almost Asleep by Crescent Dragonwagon with illustrations by David McPhail.

To learn more about Jessica Shyba please follow the link to her website, Momma's Gone City, attached to her name.  This link takes you to her Tumblr site to view additional images.  This link is to the publisher's website.  Eight portions of eight illustrations are shared. Enjoy the book trailer.