SNICKERDOODLE

The creator of the Pinkalicious franchise introduces a new, canine protagonist.

“Being a new puppy isn’t easy,” thinks the narrating, saucer-eyed Snickerdoodle, who has just been adopted by a human family comprising a mom, a dad, and three kids. The main problem, according to Snickerdoodle, is the family cat, Princess Kitty, who gets nothing but love from the humans. Meanwhile, Snickerdoodle is criticized for being too noisy and messy. Snickerdoodle has the solution: “I must become a kitty!” The plan backfires: While Princess Kitty’s playfulness is cute, Snickerdoodle’s imitative behavior—attempting to mew (but emitting a series of barks), breaking the cat door while using it—is annoying and destructive. Now the humans have had it with Snickerdoodle, who concludes that “my family doesn’t love me as a puppy or a kitty” and runs away. A happy ending is never in doubt, but the turnaround is awfully abrupt: It results from Snickerdoodle overhearing Mama call him “special.” As in her previous books, Kann distinguishes herself not so much with her writing or plotting but with her art, a cavalcade of colors applied to slick illustrations, in this case centered on a middle-class, brown-skinned, pink-cheeked human family who wear their emotions on their faces like semaphores. As for their pets, their rascally antics stay safely within the bounds of adorableness.

A solid vehicle for Kann’s calling card: her sleek, kid-pleasing art.