LOLA AND TATTLETALE ZEKE

A tiny Yorkshire terrier named Lola narrates her third entry in a series, this time focusing on a new addition to the family, her fellow Yorkie named Zeke.

The story is told in first person by Lola, although the identity of the narrator is not clearly specified. She calls Zeke her little brother even though Zeke is larger in size, a point of potential confusion for the audience despite her explanation. The plot recounts multiple incidents of misbehavior by Lola, such as leaving muddy paw prints on the floor or lying about brushing her teeth. Zeke repeatedly tattles on Lola to an unnamed authority, presumably the dogs’ owner. Zeke then unintentionally causes some minor trouble—spilling a water dish, ripping the arm of the teddy bear—and the family cat then tattles on him. Lola comforts him, and then Zeke refrains from tattling, concluding sagely that accidents will happen. The premise falls flat, as exactly how Zeke and the cat actually communicate with their owner is unclear, and the concept of one pet “telling” on another is never fully explained. The quality of the photographic illustrations is inconsistent, with some photos of the dogs rather blurry and several shots with one dog’s face turned away. The photographs don’t really capture either the dogs’ personalities or a convincing relationship between the pair. The book concludes with a curriculum guide offering discussion questions and activities that relate to the story.

An unfocused effort overall, both in illustration quality and in plot development.