Dog-Gone School

The husband-and-wife team behind Loose Leashes dishes up another silly but irresistible concept, pairing school-themed poems with photographs of dogs riding the bus, visiting the school library, and tuning up for music class. A butterscotch terrier stands on a stack of books to reach a drinking fountain: “Ralphie has a hallway pass/ To visit the water fountain./ He can’t reach to get a drink,/ So he’s built a giant mountain.” Beneath a free verse poem, two Australian shepherd puppies gaze at a globe: “At our school,/ On our street,/ In our city,/ Inside our state,/ Within our country,/ On our continent,/ Of this world.” In an age when dogs go to daycare and the spa, the Schmidts’ conceit isn’t so farfetched. Ages 3–7. (July)