Smithy and Me

K-Gr 3–A young child narrates activities shared with pet dog Smithy in this delightful bedtime romp. Each game they play seems to end with a new mess in the house; an overturned table and vase, a drenched bathroom. As every mess occurs, the mother calls from the other room, “What’s going on in there?” In a small voice (indicated by smaller font), the child answers, “Nothing.” The brown-skinned mother and child, as well as the rambunctious Smithy, are depicted in fine line drawings and carefully colored details. Readers see both the path of destruction left by child and dog and the patient parent trying to concentrate in her home office. Time after time she drops her blueprints or leaves her desk to say, “Oh dear,” or “Oh my,” and address the latest disaster. When at last the child is ready for a bedtime story, the mother is too tired, especially after seeing the entire bedroom filled with feathers from a burst pillow. In a satisfying role reversal the child reads to Smithy as the mother curls up next to them.