If You Give a Dog a Donut (If You Give...)

These veteran collaborators don't stray from the tried-and-true recipe for their If You Give... series in this addition, a buoyant, circular story in which a canine's spiraling free association leads to a day's worth of outdoor activities. As usual, Bond's clean, action-filled pictures, set against white backdrops, imbue the title character with abundant personality as he skips and dances his way through the pages. After his young host gives him a donut, the dog requests apple juice--and then seconds. Since there isn't any left, he skateboards outside to pick apples to make juice. Tossing an apple to the boy "make him think of baseball," so the two dabble in that sport, play pirates, have a water fight, and fly a kite, before the dog is again reminded of apple juice--and donuts. There's a definite boy slant to this story, which is a nice complement to the more girl-oriented installments in the series. Even readers whose dogs are less demanding than this one are likely to recognize his boundless energy in their own pets. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)

PreS-K--If you give a dog a donut, he'll want some apple juice to go with it. So begins the now-familiar circular story that will end up in the same place as it started. This one takes a little time out in the middle for a baseball game between the dog and the boy. Then the story line meanders back to a thirsty dog that wants some apple juice and, no doubt, a donut to go with it. The illustrations, all outlined in black, are clean and colorful. There is a lot of white space in this one, as backgrounds are kept to a minimum. The formula is a hit with the preschool crowd, and this installment is sure to be as popular as the others.--Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI