Bow-Wow Wiggle-Waggle

PreS—In this story told exclusively with onomatopoetic narrative and watercolor illustrations, a boy and his dog encounter other animals while playing outdoors, and the text is presented in a variety of font types, sizes, and colors. The cat garners attention with "paw-paw pitter-patter…meow!" A butterfly distracts them, "FLEE, FLY FLUTTER-FLUTTER FLICKER, FLASH." They chase a frog: "HIP HOP! ribbet-ribbet splish-splish spLash!" Geese chase them from the pond, a snake and then rabbits appear from under the bushes, and the dog wanders off from the boy to chase a cat. The boy looks for the dog: "CALL crawl scramble ramble zip, skip…MEET! BOW-WOW wiggle-waggle YIP-YAP YAY!/HUG, SNUG, TUMBLE, CUDDLE, PET, PAT…PLAY!" The action unfolds across cheerful spreads; the lack of added details will help viewers focus on the action but may not support many repeated readings. The cartoon characters are small and of low contrast, making the book best suited for lap or small-group sharing. A tight textual rhythm is satisfying and will spark a conversation between the reader and viewer.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI