Stick!

Newcomer Pritchett tells his story with brisk economy: two puppies, one stick, one word per spread, and a few barnyard animals. “Stick?” offers a white puppy whose black ears look like a set of quotation marks; he’s holding it out to a cow against a bright green backdrop. “Grass!” replies the cow, turning him down. “Stick?” the undeterred puppy excitedly asks a hen, seen against a sky blue background. “Worm!” she replies. Not until he finds another puppy who is as excited about his find as he is (“Stick! Stick! Stick!”) do the other animals leave their activities to rally round and play with the puppies: “Stick!” they all cheer happily. As the stick party ends, the pups recognize each other as special companions (“Friends?” says a thought bubble they share), and they romp off together, just the two of them. It’s an elementally simple portrait of the moment when two kindred spirits discover each other. Pritchett’s polished graphics and bare-bones storytelling have a board-book feel, and will hold the interest of very young readers. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)