God Got a Dog

Gr 5 Up—An award-winning author and illustrator team up to create a lyrical celebration of where the divine meets the mundane, and ultimately what it means to be human. In this small book of poetry, God decides to "try out" different activities and experiences of humanity, and the results are by turns thought-provoking and inspiring. Each of the 15 poems is coupled with a quietly incandescent illustration that supports the text but doesn't overwhelm it or diminish its impact. Taken from the author's longer collection God Went to Beauty School (HarperCollins, 2003), this slimmed down, repackaged version brilliantly captures its sweetness and substance but provides a simpler progression and arc. Selections alternate pronouns for the deity, with God referred to as He or She in each poem. In "God Got Arrested," his anger "erupted like/the wrath of…/Oh, right./Never mind." While this title might be controversial and potentially inappropriate for some religious institutions, it will appeal to a wide audience of both children and adults. This is one book that's easy to pick up, but hard to put down again.—Stephanie Whelan, New York Public Library