Where Lily Isn’t

Remembering Lily, a little brown pup who once “ran/ and jumped/ and barked/... But not now,” a child moves through her routine noticing the dog’s sudden absence. The empty rug “where Lily isn’t,” the gap beside a breakfast chair, the lack of havoc at the mailman’s arrival. Paschkis expresses the child’s grief with quiet melancholy (“There is no belly to/ be rubbed or ears/ to be scratched”), while Chodos-Irvine’s colorful artwork, rendered using hand-cut stencils and gouache, emphasizes Lily’s presence and absence both, showing the distinct space that Lily once took up, physically and otherwise. Expert brushwork adds movement and texture to the neat, sparse pages. A straightforward story about grieving—and coming to terms with—the passing of a beloved pet. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)