LUDWIG THE SPACE DOG

Three-dimensional illustrations propel into orbit this imported tale of a dog with stars in his eyes.

The heavens feature sausages and other doggy treats as well as stars and planets in Ludwig’s dreams—and also in reality, as he discovers after a repair job on a penguinlike alien’s damaged spacecraft earns him a free ride. Thanks to particularly effective placement of cutout figures and shadows to go with the separated color lines, Löhlein’s collage scenes when viewed through the (supplied) red/cyan spectacles feature rockets and celestial bodies as well as feathers, wads of paper, postcards, and other items that seem to burst up from the page surfaces, while an uncommon depth of view makes the star-studded backdrops look as if they go on forever. Ludwig’s voyage reaches a truly spectacular climax, with planets cut from printed maps on the outside of a double gatefold giving way to a dizzying starscape of floating moons, ETs, and UFOs, along with such less-likely items as a wedge of cheese, fruits, and a rubber ducky. “WOW!” as the canine cosmonaut aptly puts it. The pictures do need the special glasses to look their dazzling best, but the narrative is readable with or without them.

The right stuff for all young would-be space explorers.