THE ADVENTURES OF MRS. CROCKESS AND IVY

In Kolouch’s picture book, an emotionally expressive dog and her frenetic human friend must find a way to carry all their possessions and make it to the store before closing time.

Mrs. Crockess, an anthropomorphized hound with a pink collar and pink tea-shade glasses, lives with the Briggs family, depicted as pale-skinned and russet-haired. Mrs. Crockess likes Mrs. Briggs (who reads to her) and Mr. Briggs (whom she helps with the dishes), but she loves young Ivy Briggs the most. One day when they’re playing music together—Mrs. Crockess on drums, Ivy on a pink guitar—the youngster breaks a string. They need to get to the music store before it closes, but how will Mrs. Crockess carry her money, keys, phone, map, bone, and so on? Kolouch narrates in straightforward, nonrhyming narrative prose and dialogue, presented in a slightly shaky typeface but artfully integrated within Bouloubasis’ distinctive, original cartoon illustrations. The artwork masterfully captures the energetic, can-do personalities of the two main characters; Ivy’s bird’s-nest hair is very nearly a character in its own right. The images also offer lovely background details, such as hand-drawn wall art. The author makes astute use of repetition and reversal to invest the music-store mission with urgency. Young readers will embrace the duo’s madcap adventure.

A quirky, vivacious tale of friendship and fast thinking.