KATIE AND THE PUPPY NEXT DOOR

A jaunty hound learns to share and play nicely with her next-door-neighbor dog in this sequel to Katie Loves the Kittens (2008).

This time, Katie has to learn to get along with Ruby, a boisterous dachshund new to the neighborhood. When Ruby comes over for visits, her pushy personality is in full display, as she steals Katie’s toys and food and the attention of the three kittens Katie considers her special friends. Gradually, Katie and Ruby work through their issues and become friends, concluding with a charming, wordless final page that portrays the two dogs and three kittens curled up together on Katie’s dog bed. The text is rather wordy and too often tells rather than shows what is developing between the two dogs, but the animated illustrations in watercolor and pencil elevate the text with depictions of the spirited encounters between the two dogs and the kittens. Readers see Katie shake with frustration and sigh with resignation, with the letters s-i-g-h cleverly spelled out on the carpet in front of her. Katie’s emotions are amusingly on display as she learns to grin and bear it, with touching results as Ruby becomes her friend.

Katie and Ruby and their kitty friends enjoy themselves; young readers will enjoy them too.