Lost Dog: An Acorn Book
(The Adventure Friends #2)

K-Gr 2--In the latest installment of "The Adventure Friends" series, Clarke and Miguel go on a mission to find a missing dog named Spider. The dog's owner, Rita, is the town mayor and helps Clarke and Miguel figure out where to start looking. The two friends set off on their mission to find Spider using their adventure tools, maps, walkie-talkies, and a compass. When they do find Spider, and discover a secret fort, Miguel and Clarke invite the dog to join their adventure friend team. The vocabulary is very basic, and the illustrations are colorful, but lack depth, detail, and dimension. Readers can learn a few map reading skills, such as the cardinal directions, and the colorful map included in the front of the book could be used to show how to find streets. Back matter includes a tutorial on how to draw Miguel and a story creation prompt. Most of the characters are illustrated as people of color. VERDICT This book could be used for emerging readers to practice sight words and reading fluency, but it lacks some detail elements and rich vocabulary to make it a must-have for a libraries.--Erin Olsen