If You Give a Dog a Donut

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[s] 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.)