BUSTER

Buster was a happy dog who had everything he could ever want, until his owner brought home a big box—no steaks or sausages inside, just a little white cat named Betty. Buster tries ignoring her, but she sleeps in his dishes, digs in his sandpit, and hides his toys. He tries escaping by running to the park—where he gets lost. Nobody can tell him where he lives until he looks up and sees, in the top of a tall tree several streets over, a waving ball of white fur. “The tree looked very familiar. The waving ball looked very familiar.” Fleming’s signature paper-pulp illustrations turn a common theme into an original, charming story with a cunning resolution. Offering clever designs, even to the endpapers, Fleming barks up the right tree, as green-eyed Betty and red-furred Buster are definitely a match. (Picture book. 4-7)