God Got a Dog

Sixteen poems from Rylant’s God Went to Beauty School (2003) return in a new collection, accompanied by new artwork from Frazee, whose graphite-and-gouache illustrations are ideally attuned to the poems’ moments of irreverent humor and poignant reflection. In several images, Frazee portrays God as a child, such as the girl with spiky braids and yellow life vest riding in a swan boat in “God got a boat,” or the boy sprawled out on a sofa in “God caught a cold,” tissues littering the floor (“It’s hard to/ thunder/ ‘Thou shalt not!’/ when it comes out/ ‘Thou shalt dot!’ ”). Rylant and Frazee’s visions of God as a trucker delivering a fan letter to a country music singer, an ostensibly homeless woman walking through a gorgeous gothic church, and a dadlike fellow in plaid pajamas and slippers sipping coffee under an apple tree combine to form a celebration of God’s humanity and mankind’s divinity. Ages 10–up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)