By the end of this little verse novel every one has huge smiles on their faces - the kids, the adults and the reader! The words gem, joy, delight, charming, sweet, honest and exquisite are all words I would use to describe Little Dog, Lost.
I was browsing a list of verse novels when I saw the cover of this little book. I adore verse novels but I had not seen Little Dog, Lost on any previous lists. It is not a new book first published in 2012.
I read the Kirkus review and knew I would adore this book.
Mark longs for a dog. A boy in another town has a dog he adores. This boy is moving to an apartment and his dog is given away to a lady (who has no understanding of dogs) who lives in the same town as Mark. The little dog is called Buddy. She is confused and desperate to find her boy again. Meanwhile, Mark decides he needs a campaign to lobby his mum - who is the mayor - for a dog park. Mum won't let Mark have a dog but perhaps a park will give him space to connect with the special dogs owned by all of his friends. Living in this town, called Erthly, is an old man grieving for the loss of his mistress - he is now the reclusive owner of a mansion in the middle of town. How can these three lives be bought together?
In the night dark
he could make out a small dog
with airplane ears
that drooped
just at the tips.
Such sweet ears!
...
Charles Larue watched the boy,
watched the dog.
Both boy and dog
were coiled springs,
waiting to be released.
Buddy stretched toward the reaching hand.
She touched it,
just lightly
with her cool, damp nose.
A boy hand.
A good boy hand.
She breathed it in.
Here is a discussion guide. You can hear the author read a small section of this book on her web site. I would link the reading of this book with Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten by Bob Graham, One dog and his boy by Eva Ibbotson and Everything for a dog by Ann M Martin. This book also reminded me of Happy Mouseday.
I am delighted to see another book by Marion Dane Bauer this time featuring a cat.
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