Puppy, puppy, puppy

Toddler-PreS-Puppy and Baby are best friends who do everything together, from eating to playing to sleeping-with predictably unruly results. The two can't be parted for long, even when Baby's parents declare that it's time for a nap. Sternberg's text is simple and repetitive, perfect for a young audience, and the contrast between words (for instance, "Baby enjoys breakfast, and Puppy enjoys breakfast.") and images (Baby in a high chair, spattered with food, with an overturned bowl on an equally messy Puppy's head) will elicit plenty of giggles. Relying on thick black lines, the digitally rendered illustrations have a soft, gentle feel. While Koehler's portrayal of a suburban household is soothing and sweet, there are enough lively scenes to entice rambunctious toddlers. Baby and Puppy are a fetching duo: the infant (of indeterminate gender) is round-headed and appealingly chubby, while the little dog is a scruffy, stubby-tailed ball of energy. The book portrays a loving, multiethnic family: Dad is white, and Mom and Baby are brown. VERDICT Though it can't quite compete with Julie Fogliano's Old Dog Baby Baby, this is a fine addition for storytime or one-on-one sharing, especially for collections seeking options for the very young.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Puppy and Baby are double the trouble and double the love in this baby-and-dog picture book.The title-page illustration shows bald, brown-skinned Baby receiving a new puppy as a gift while dubious parents look on. Baby, Mommy, and an older couple who appears to be her puppy-as-gift-giving parents are all people of color with brown skin, while Baby's father appears to be white. The presumably well-intended (and clueless?!) grandparents are never mentioned in the text and don't appear again in the story, leaving Mommy and Daddy to deal with a series of mishaps as "Baby enjoys breakfast" and Puppy does too, and then they get dressed, work in the garden, and bathe. Understated text achieves humor through counterpoint with comical illustrations that reveal the messes and mischief inherent in these activities. When Mommy and Daddy collapse at naptime, wakeful Baby and Puppy overcome their separation wrought by a baby gate and crib and from then on: "Baby stays beside Puppy. Puppy stays beside Baby. Every single second. No matter what." By the book's end it seems that Mommy and Daddy have decided to just go with the flow of their gruesome twosome and embrace the toddler-canine chaos. A book to enjoy with dog-loving little onesif not one to follow for its gift-giving advice. (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.