Skeeter and the Computer

When a dog named Skeeter is left alone at home he finds some solace in the computer room. He pushes a button and the computer responds in a friendly manner. Soon Skeeter begins to fetch, roll over, sit up and play dead, among other tricks. The computer teaches Skeeter stunts he's never dreamed of; the dog discovers that the machine doesn't eat cake, play with toys or accept presents of any kind. When the piles of rejected presents collapse into garbage, Skeeter learns one more trickthe cleaning function. With freehand simplicity, Modell's patches of bold black line and watercolor depict a less than eventful story, and he appears to know very little of the computer's temperaments and tricks. But Skeeter looks like a fairly young dog; perhaps it's still not too late to learn. Ages 4-up. (March)