Boodil, My Dog

Doting pet owners relentlessly accentuate the positive about their charges, as this winsomely silly portrait reminds us. Paunchy, beady-eyed, loafing Boodil (a bull terrier) hardly seems an intrepid or sophisticated creature, yet each spread here features an unseen narrator's effusive praise of the dog's virtues. When Boodil plops down on a rock at the park, her owner gushes, ``She looks like a royal statue . . . I'm so proud of her.'' Later, Boodil hides from the vacuum cleaner and, in a peppy mood, vaults the coffee table ``like an amazing white cannonball.'' Swedish author Lindenbaum ( Elsa-Marie and Her Seven Little Daddies ) offers comical black-and-white renderings of a less-than-graceful canine; she uses gray background details and sparingly applies splashes of color--on Boodil's pink nose, for example. A chunky, bold typeface lends the pages a fresh, somewhat unusual appearance. Lindenbaum and translator Charbonnet, in this absurd yet affectionate juxtaposition of images and hyperbolic text, capture the unconditional love for man's best friend. Ages 4-7. (Oct.)