"GREAT-AUNT IDA AND HER GREAT DANE, DOC"

Skateboarding down the block for his weekly visit with his elderly aunt, the peppy, freckled kid, sweatband holding his squared-off red hair bolt upright, dolefully anticipates the usual tedium while Aunt Ida stops to chat with friends during their walk with her Great Dane. ""If Doc and me could have our own way/We'd get up and GO, MAN, GO!"" While he endures the sedate pace, the boy imagines what he and the dog could do if they escaped: ""rope cattle on the prairie,"" perform in a circus... But when an awesome-looking pack of strays threatens, it's Aund Ida who has the gumption to shout, ""'SHOOOOO!' And they do!"" Komaiko's perky verse, an unusually felicitous marriage of story and playful use of language keeps the story skipping along at a pace precluding any boredom in the audience, while Schindler's witty, dynamic illustrations are right in step. The huge, bumptious dog, sturdy kid, and jowly old lady (who has a twinkle in her eye from the start) make a likable trio.