Fun in the Sun

In a buoyant dog tale from a master of the genre, a bulbous, scrunchy-faced, ugly-cute dog heads to the shore toting all the essentials for a day at the beach. “I hope I didn’t forget anything,” he muses, as a he boards a bus while wearing a hat equipped with an umbrella, toting a picnic basket, and pulling along his pet goldfish in a bowl on wheels. Catrow’s (Dream Dog) sprawling, sun-splashed watercolors comically embellish the canine’s deadpan narrative: “Here’s a good one,” he says, finding a spot in the sand, which he discovers is actually a sunbather’s prodigious belly (“I’ll keep looking,” the dog adds). The fun continues full tilt when an octopus slides into the goldfish’s bowl (“Fish has made a friend”), and the animals join a handful of beachgoers who are flying an array of hats and toys like kites. A final illustration reveals exactly what the dog—who is now as pink as the sunset on the bus ride home—forgot to bring to the beach, closing out the book with one last giggle. Ages 3–6. (May)