DIGGER DOG

Digger Dog is obsessed with finding buried bones, but will he be able to dig up the world’s largest?

His nose finds the bones, and a shovel usually works to dig them up. But this time, a shovel just doesn’t cut it. Neither do a little digger, a bigger digger or a much bigger digger (depicted as a series of ever-larger backhoes). Luckily, Digger Dog has access to the biggest digger in the whole world (so large it needs a foldout of the entire two-page spread to encompass it all). And while the bone may not require the similarly large final foldout spread, what lies beneath it does. But will Digger Dog find it? Throughout, two helpers, a rabbit and a mouse, cheer him on and supply the orange cones, construction signs and tape that mark this as a digging site. Johansson’s mixed-media illustrations keep the focus on Digger Dog and his workers, their action playing out against a white background and on top of bright ground that is filled with circle patterns, the exposed dirt receiving a color and pattern all its own. With lots of repetition and mostly simple vocabulary, this is suitable for those children moving beyond the early-reader stage, though the lack of a real story may disappoint.

Digger-obsessed children will be enthralled, though others may easily pass on this one-note dog.