Circle Dogs

Ah, essence of dog. You wouldn't want to bottle it, but Kevin Henkes, creator of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and illustrator Dan Yaccarino have transformed the concept into an exquisite read-aloud book for dog-loving preschoolers. We meet the two circle dogs, who live in a big, square house, early in the morning when they first wake up. They proceed to roust everyone, distribute good-morning kisses, run in the yard, and dig circle holes. "Circle dogs like circle snacks--crunch, crunch, crunch--right from your hand. They like to play. / They like to roll. / They like to eat. / And then they like to sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep." Yaccarino, creator of Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, I'm Off to the Moon, An Octopus Followed Me Home, and Good Night, Mr. Night, shines in this 1950s-style, boldly graphic, shape-saturated tribute to the dachshund, or as Henkes sees it, "everydog." Preschoolers will revel in the supreme dogginess of it all--the circling, snapping, sniffing, gulping, smacking, and face-licking--and adults will be charmed by how artfully and elegantly Henkes and Yaccarino capture the canine je ne sais quoi in this fresh, original bedtime book. Arf! (Click to see a sample spread. Text © 1998 by Kevin Henkes. Illustrations © 1998 by Dan Yaccarino. With permission of Greenwillow Books.) (Ages 2 to 5) --Karin Snelson