DEAR HOUND

Alfie, an adolescent deerhound who's been left with a dog-sitter, is spooked by an encounter with an electric fence. He runs off into heavily forested Hawkland Heath, where the distraught animal is befriended by a pair of kindly foxes. Although miserable, he learns to cope with life in the forest. Things are much worse for his master, Charlie, who desperately misses his exuberant pet. Although he and his mother continue to search for Alfie for months, having several near misses, the dog is finally found by a dognapper bent on training him to illegally hunt at night with a bright light—“lamping,” in British parlance. Having once taken a vow (with his family cat) to never chase animals, he isn’t about to break it with a thug. In the end, the foxes find a way to help deserving Alfie. Murphy deftly conveys the dog’s angst with occasional all-caps dialogue. Her charming black-and-white line illustrations appear on every spread, extending the simple text and making this an excellent choice for readers recently transitioned to chapter books. (Animal fantasy. 7-11)