SPARKY & TOOTSIE AND THE CAT FOOD CONTEST
by Donna J. Hood
A dog and cat duo helps a friend sort out a problem in Hood’s debut picture book about community and generosity.
Sparky and Tootsie, a dog and cat who share the same house and yard, are enjoying an afternoon together when their young human friend Jimmy enlists their help; it seems another cat friend, Barney, has won a prize of more cat food than he can eat. The pals quickly brainstorm ideas and decide they can give some of the excess to a local cat lady, some to the vet, and some to the animal shelter. Loading everything into Barney’s car, the friends drive to drop off their donations, finishing the long day “grateful for surprises and the joy of giving.” Hood uses simple sentences and spare text on each page, stretching the story over Coggins’ retro-style cartoon illustrations. The friendly designs, which evoke the funny pages of the 1980s, give young readers plenty of graphics to enjoy over each page of the story. Hood introduces vocabulary words like “jingle” and explains them in the text. The choice of an italics-based font may stymie some emergent readers, but with so many cues from the surrounding images, the story is easy to follow. Some readers may wonder why Barney the cat drives a car, even as other cats are living in animal shelters staffed by humans, but the theme of community giving shines through regardless.
A celebration of giving and sharing with likeable animal characters.