Review by Booklist Review
After bedtime, Jo Jo the St. Bernard pals around with an Afro-haired baby, while the parents remain clueless. Though similar in theme to Alexandra Day's tales of rottweiler Carl, these adventures happen on a smaller and sometimes more believable scale. While the parents enjoy alone time, the baby gets out of the crib and slides down the stairs in a laundry basket, with Jo Jo along for the ride. Dog and baby devour a cake, observe the moon, and get back into the crib. Jo Jo is blamed for everything and banished to her cage until the baby releases her, declaring Out! Like the Carl books, the story is illustration-driven, with minimal text fewer than a dozen different words are used. The acrylic, found paper, and digital artwork appears in a mix of partial-page sequential panels and full-page spreads, creating a pleasing pace. To reflect the nighttime setting, the palette is often very dark at times, though the action is always clearly delineated. Hopefully, Jo Jo has more adventures to come.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the spirit of Alexandra Day's Carl books, Chung (The Fix-It Man) casts a Saint Bernard named Jo Jo as lookout and protector for a toddler who is eager to get out of its crib. Using sequential artwork and no more than a dozen words ("Out!" "Whee!" "Down!"), he shows how the toddler escapes its crib and sets off through the house, with Jo Jo in pursuit. After an alarming sail down the stairs in a laundry basket, the two tear into a layer cake and share a look at the stars, pulling off a grand nighttime adventure. The furtive theme is underscored by panels shadowed in deep blues and framed in black. When the child's parents discover the demolished cake, they initially blame Jo Jo, but cakey footprints lead them to the right culprit. Chung puts a multiracial family at the center of this suburban adventure, the spare text rewards new readers, and his cartooning makes the characters familiar and approachable. Ages 2-6. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Jo Jo is a babysitter of sorts. She's also a St. Bernard.Jo Jo and a brown-skinned baby with black curly hair are playing when a pair of arms snatches the child. On the title page itself, the baby is ensconced in a crib yelling the titular "OUT!" (shown in a speech bubble) as the baby's pale-skinned dad signals quiet! before leaving dog and baby together in the bedroom. The baby wants out, shouts the word constantly, but Jo Jo can, of course, say only: "Woof." Jo Jo tries to alert the parents, an interracial couple (the mom is black, with brown skin a few shades darker than the baby's), downstairs, but all they have to say is a cross "Jo Jo!" and "Out!" What can a concerned dog do but return to the baby? The strong-willed child climbs out of the crib, slides downstairs in a laundry basket, with a terrified Jo Jo riding behind, and their adventures begin. Young children will soon retell the story, remembering the few words in the speech balloons. The bold illustrations, created using dark acrylics, found paper, and Adobe Photoshop, are executed in a mix of graphic panels and double-page spreads. Amusing details include the parents dancing in the dark before the baby and Jo Jo creep into the parents' bed; the back cover shows all four sleeping peacefully together. A bouncy nighttime blend of easy graphic novel and almost-wordless picture book. (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
