The barking ballad A bark-along, meow-along book

Paschkis (Delicious!) opens this interactive, interspecies friendship story with instructions: when readers see one of many red circles in the text, they're invited to "yip, arrf, grrr, bow-wow" or otherwise sound off like a dog; a yellow diamond, likewise, cues readers to make like a cat. Enter an abandoned orange-and-white feline, "so swift and small," who cowers in a bush; her anxious face is surrounded by six big rosettes, one of the many folk art--style graphic flourishes that embellish the playful, flat-perspective watercolors. When a rambunctious dog is injured near her hiding place, the cat ministers to him "with tender tongue and gentle love." A friendship blossoms--"If you looked out for one of them,/ The pair is what you saw"--and readers are prompted by a page dotted with red circles to offer celebratory barks alongside the duo's many doggie pals. The afterword notes that the text is inspired by a snippet of poetry from 18th-century writer Oliver Goldsmith. Though the resultant heightened language and phrasing ("She hid amidst the bushes low") may take younger readers some getting used to, the opportunity to bark and meow 'til the cows come home is ample compensation. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)

An interactive, melodic adventure involving an unlikely pair. Following instructions at the start, readers are requested to participate by making a barking sound anytime a red circle appears and meowing anytime there is a yellow diamond. It is, after all, a "bark-along, meow-along book." Inspired by Oliver Goldsmith's "An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" (from which it lifts one complete stanza and also the poem's rhythm), the tale begins with a stray cat in a neighborhood of many dogs. The cat is hiding, stealthy, until one dog sniffs her out. This black pup, whose fur, rendered in Paschkis' characteristic folk-art style, resembles a Renaissance ruff collar, just wants to play. In an abrupt turn of events (that takes its lead from its elegiac form), "One day a rock fell from above / and knocked the dog near dead. // With tender tongue and gentle love / the cat repaired his head." After that, the duo becomes inseparable (the barking and meowing prompts, which were at first individual, are now combined). In a rousing cacophonous finale, "A hundred barks ring through the park" (red circles cover the page) "and one small stray meow" (a tiny yellow diamond conclusion). A large storytime crowd may not be able to see the symbols, but a clever leader can still orchestrate the group, and it will be great fun in a lap with pre-readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Anything but ruff. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.