A Pet for Fly Guy

Buzz and Fly Guy’s enormous bug eyes loom all the larger in Arnold’s picture book spinoff. Harkening back to the pet-adoption theme of Hi! Fly Guy (2005), the first title in the author’s bestselling early chapter book series, this story brings Buzz and his pet to the park, where they see kids playing with unorthodox pets: one girl is toting her fish’s aquarium around in a red wagon, while another child has put on boots, thick gloves, and a helmet worthy of a welder in order to play with a porcupine. “No petz!” utters a forlorn Fly Guy, realizing his own lack of a pet and prompting Buzz to take him to a pet store. When none of the prospects there or back in the park fits the bill—a cat swats at him, and a (friendly) spider’s web is “too tangly”—Fly Guy hits on a solution that suits both fine (“Buzz iz petz!”). The high-spirited friendship between these ever-quirky buddies translates well into the picture-book format, which gives Arnold’s digital cartoons even more room to fly. Ages 4–8. (May)