Dream Dog

The familiar premise of the kid who desperately wants a dog gets a big shot of adrenaline from Berger (The Elephant Wish) and Catrow (Dozens of Cousins). Harry’s loving but allergic father seems to rule out any possibility of dog ownership, but Harry has a solution: “He would put on his X-35 Infra-Rocket Imagination Helmet”—it’s an old football helmet festooned with aluminum foil—“and create a dog from deep within his own brain.” The result is Waffle, as big as an Irish wolfhound and made entirely of clouds. Catrow is marvelous in portraying the joy that Harry and Waffle find in each other’s company; the artist’s signature visual exaggerations, usually (and wonderfully) employed in the service of transgressions and gross-out humor, take on remarkable emotional depth. When Dad brings home a real dog, Harry is torn between the pet he’s always wanted (he “could feel its real hot breath, its thick golden fur”) and the fantasy that has given him so much comfort. Berger handles his hero’s struggles with love and loyalty beautifully; there is nothing evanescent about Harry’s attachments. Good boy—and great book. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)