Pick a Pup

“Eeny, mee­ny, miney, pup, / which tee­ny-wee­ny, tiny pup?” Sam is eager to get a new pup­py, but how in the world will he pick the right one? Look­ing through books, study­ing dogs on the street, draw­ing pic­tures of dogs, dogs, dogs does­n’t seem to do the trick. Should it be a “sit-in-your-lap dog” or a “likes-to-take-a-nap dog?” A cor­nu­copia of sim­i­lar com­par­isons fol­lows on the suc­ceed­ing spreads. Once Sam arrives at the shel­ter, dogs of all shapes and sizes greet him, mak­ing the deci­sion even hard­er. Or is it, as one gold­en pup makes his feel­ings known? The sto­ry has a cer­tain inevitabil­i­ty, but it’s done with such good humor and spir­it, even kids who guess the end­ing will enjoy Sam’s jour­ney. Hen­ry’s water­col­or art pos­sess­es the fun of car­toons but shows some heft as well and does a good job of por­tray­ing the emo­tions Sam expe­ri­ences as he makes his choice. (Book­list)