I AM MURPHY AND I AM WAITING

A pooch whose young owner has left for the day opens up while awaiting the lad’s return.

“I am Murphy. I am watching the big yellow thing take my boy away.” (Readers will observe that the “big yellow thing” out Murphy’s window is a school bus.) The book’s conceit—that French bulldog Murphy is utterly clueless about how the world works—is put to terrific use here. “I am thirsty” finds Murphy drinking from a toilet. “I am exercising” sees the pup unspooling a roll of toilet paper, among other activities that irk the boy’s parents. Yaccarino’s flat, uncomplicated digital art, rendered in a handful of well-chosen colors, is a natural fit for the pared-down quality of Murphy’s thoughts. Though spare, Yaccarino’s words are by turns funny and poignant; even the hearts of dog-indifferent readers will melt when Murphy reports, “I am growling at that dog who lives in the mirror. ‘You can’t have my boy!’ I say every day. ‘He is mine!’” Readers can expect a touching dog–boy reunion at book’s end and perhaps the realization that Murphy is likely to relive this ordeal the next time the boy climbs aboard the big yellow thing. It’s all so diverting that young readers likely won’t be aware that they’re on the receiving end of an empathy lesson. Humans have pale skin the color of the page.

A hilarious, heart-tugging dog’s-eye view of life.