Louis and his eccentric Grandma set out to count every dog in the neighborhood when they find out about city hall’s woefully inadequate record keeping.
Louis wants a dog, but his Grandma insists, “There are enough dogs in the neighborhood already.” But how many dogs are in the neighborhood? Surely a sternly worded letter to City Hall will clear this up. When it turns out that City Hall doesn’t keep an official count of this essential demographic, Louis and his Grandma do their civic duty and take matters into their own hands. Together they meet all sorts of dogs with hilarious names and personalities. When they’re done, Louis’s grandmother is sure he’s missed one particularly lovable dog, a mutt named Baklava in need of a new home.
Philip Stead and Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell have once again shown their knack for making quirky and endearing stories about grandparent and grandchild duos in the tradition of Follow That Frog and Special Delivery.
Full-color illustrations rendered with pen and ink with watercolor.
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K-Gr 3-What a pleasure to see sprawling urban neighborhood scenes with every kind of adult, child, and dog imaginable, all packed into a picture book. For children who love dogs, this sweet story, charmingly limned by Cordell, follows a grandmother and her grandson, Louis, as they spend time trying to remedy a problem. Louis, resembling a sheepdog with black bangs hiding most of his face, canvasses the neighborhood to find out how many dogs live there after Grandma says there are too many for him to have one of his own. Grandma has a campaign of her own, concerning a vacant lot. By the end of the story, Louis has counted 20 neighborhood dogs, including the one he adopts, and his grandmother has turned the lot into a dog park. Louis's innocent but matter-of-fact narration is entertaining for all ages (with plenty of inside literary jokes to boot), while the illustrations show Cordell's signature sketchbook style of thin black outlines and soft watercolor paint. The art matches the tone of the book, making this a gentle and pleasant read. VERDICT In spite of its outwardly comical premise, this book delivers a ton of information on canvassing, addressing city agencies, amassing data, and getting things done. It can bolster various programs and collections, and makes a great addition to any shelf.-Sarah West