SALLY DOG LITTLE

"I want you to be a proper dog and bark only when burglars come," says Papa. That's just one of the exacting expectations her decorous owners have for Sally Dog Little in this lively, tongue-in-cheek tale. ("They never called her Sally, for short. The Littles were a formal family. Formal families are not fond of 'for short.' ") Her congenial canine existence is upended when a ghost pirate and his dog waltz through the living room wall, and Sally Dog Little begins arfing and woofing at the apparitions only she can see. Richardson (After Hamelin) continues to poke lightheartedly at the prim and proper, as the two intruders "stretch out on the formal sofa where dogs were forbidden and pirates would never be encouraged." Malépart's (Theodore the Millipede) peppy watercolors create humorous caricatures of the stuffy family and its unwelcome guests, rounding out their quirkiness with white lips, pencil-thin limbs and pointed noses. The dachshund-esque Sally Dog Little, with her long, ever-dripping muzzle, hastens the departure of the quaint ghostly duo by digging up for them a long-buried treasure chest in the backyard. An unexpected and somewhat flat ending may leave readers wanting just a bit more from these entertainingly odd characters. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)