TWO'S A CROWD

Sunny the pug’s life is satisfying until her owner brings home a younger dog, Rosy, who is very annoying.

Using numerous minimalist drawings and brief, large-print text, this early chapter book gently relates an adult dog’s challenging adjustment to a rambunctious puppy. Sunny mostly enjoys her solitary life: a morning snack (if her human remembers to put it out), followed by yoga, a little television, arranging her stuffed toys, and maybe a nice nap. The arrival of exuberant Rosy makes all of her customary activities hard to enjoy. Then Rosy accidentally throws Sunny’s favorite toy out the window and later, feeling guilty, runs off to find it. Sunny knows her duty and goes to locate and bring back the younger dog, in the process discovering that she’s come to love her little sister. Ahn’s spare illustrations are the stars of this show, using just a few lines to evoke emotion, drama, and especially humor. Although many pages include just a sentence or two of text, some of the words, such as “surveillance,” “anticipated,” and “stealthily,” will stretch the young intended audience. Considering how brief the text is, the two dogs leap, lifelike, off the pages, Sunny reserved and just a bit surly and Rosy fired with youthful enthusiasm.

A fun pet romp for new readers of chapter books.