Hazel is all that

Hazel is a confident kid with a spirited, self-assured swagger. Looking at the world through her enormous, round yellow glasses, she thinks she sees the whole picture. An unseen narrator even announces, "Yep. Hazel has things all figured out." When she encounters a growling dog in the park, she "says it like it is" and declares, "That dog is mean!" Hazel makes more one-dimensional snap judgements about other canines she spies: the poodle sitting nicely is "good," the bulldog sporting a spiked collar is "tough," and the dachshund with a hat in its mouth is "naughty." A dropped ice cream cone causes the little girl to experience many relatable feelings, from anger to embarrassment, and sparks an epiphany: "Maybe we aren't all just one thing." Otis' digitally enhanced pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are full of detailed scenes affording readers different views of Hazel's changing emotions and each dog's multifaceted personality. This picture book offers a fresh perspective on the fallacy of first impressions.

Hazel knows what's what, and she tells it like it is. When a loud dog startles young Hazel, she recoils: "That dog is mean!" The park is full of canines, and she's sure she has each one pegged. The little gray poodle who sits obediently is "good." That growling bulldog is "tough," while the goofy one playing with a ball is "happy." But when Hazel drops her ice cream, she's angry, sad, and embarrassed--all at once. And she's overjoyed when her parent buys her a new treat. That gets Hazel thinking: "Maybe we aren't all just one thing." That good dog probably has its naughty moments, while the upbeat one might feel sad if someone took its ball. When Hazel sees a picture of the "mean" pooch who scared her on a missing dog poster, she's filled with sympathy. Perhaps that mean dog was also a scared dog. After Hazel and her parent reunite the lost dog with its owner, Hazel discovers that people--and dogs--are more complicated than she's assumed: "She's pretty sure we're ALL THAT and more!" Otis narrates Hazel's realizations in spare, chatty, child-friendly text; young readers and listeners will readily see themselves in her wide-eyed take on the world. The blocky, digitally manipulated pencil and watercolor illustrations are bright and exuberant, with an exaggerated quality. Hazel is brown-skinned; her community is diverse. A child-friendly affirmation that we all contain multitudes.(Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.