Will you help Doug find his dog?

PreS-Doug is at the dog park, but he's sad because he's lost his pet. It's up to readers to help find his dog among all of the canines in the story. By following clues about the dog's appearance (scruffy, spotted, small) and his love of kisses, children narrow down their choices by examining the details on the engaging mixed-media spreads. All of the pups seem eager to be picked, and many of them have the traits Doug is looking for, but until the book is shaken, the identity of Doug's dog remains a secret, which will keep the audience intrigued. VERDICT This will be a popular choice for toddler and preschooler storytimes because it incorporates reader interaction right up until the last page.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A small boy loses his dogand readers help him find it.Doug, a black-haired Asian child, sits forlornly on a park bench, an empty leash hanging limply from his hands. A few dogs frolic nearby; one wallows in mud. The narrator sympathizes, then invites readers to help Doug out and poses the first of several questions, in boldfaced type: "What does your dog look like, Doug?" This evokes the answer "scruffy," rendered in fuzzy, dark type. On subsequent pages, questions to Doug, his responses, and successive instructions to readers are all boldfaced. All these highlight new vocabulary and act as identifiers so children may distinguish from an array of depicted dogs, as in the directive to "Call Here Scruff!' to all the scruffy dogs." Will children take this bait? Of course, and on the following spread, the scruffy dogs come running. And so it proceeds. The narrator asks questions, and Doug respondsbut only in speech balloons, offstage. After the opening spreads, the story isn't so much about Doug as about children's following irresistible instructionspatting, tickling, kissing dogs!while exercising visual acuity and honing vocabulary and sentence-meaning skills. A final instruction delivers a surprise, a joyous reunion, and the narrator's gratitude. An empathic, easy-to-understand situation and sturdy pages make this a good choice for the very young, and the rollicking watercolor, pencil, and digital-media illustrations will provide plenty of entertainment at sharing time. Lively interactive fun. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.