MY LIFE IS GOOD

In the third chapter-book in Tiffany’s Carter and Jack trilogy, a Maltese puppy learns the value of gratitude.

Green-collared Carter and red-collared Jack are Maltese puppies with very different attitudes about life. Jack sees himself as a watchdog for their white, middle-class owners Erin and Matthew, and he is the self-appointed sniffer-outer of the sly coyote that has been prowling the neighborhood at night. Carter, meanwhile, considers pampering to be his due and is determined to indulge in as much of it as possible. In fact, he has aspirations to form a “brotherhood” of suburban canines and to formalize their so-called rights in a list of demands to be presented to all their owners. Jack tries to reason with Carter—he points out how lucky they both are, and how much Erin and Matthew love and care for them, with no need for anything in writing. Carter won’t listen. He persists in agitating for more treats, but in doing so finds himself in danger of losing the other dogs’ friendship—and of being taken by the coyote. Will being attacked change Carter’s outlook? Tiffany leans mostly into Jack’s point of view. While often more workmanlike than literary, the prose does feature some nice flourishes (“They all communicated with the same language, using their eyes and ears, squirms and wiggles, barks and growls, and sniffs and smells”), and odd bits of drollery that adult readers will appreciate (“He had heard that hard work never killed anyone, but he wasn’t about to take a chance”). The story itself is somewhat text-heavy, with a relative paucity of accompanying pictures; the moralistic discussions and purely expository paragraphs can grow lengthy (for example, Carter’s page-long talk about the evolution of dogs from wolves). Though serving to edify young readers, the delivery of this material may not always engage them. That said, Brayer’s cartoon-style full-color illustrations burst with vitality and puppy personality (particularly in the double-page depiction of the coyote attack). While the textual embellishments, such as Carter’s list of demands, seem a tad too adult-focused, the doggy distinctiveness of the pictures should keep children from tuning out.

A wholesome if somewhat didactic backyard adventure.