Percy, Dog of Destiny

Percy, a perky black-and-white dog whose tail is in a perpetual state of motion, recounts his adventure at the dog park in this chipper picture book. “Dog park? What ho!” he shouts as his human dangles a leash in front of him. With his favorite toy ball clamped in his mouth, Percy meets up with his pals—large and lumbering Fluffy, elegant poodle Molly, and spotted dachshund Oatmeal Raisin Cookie—for their playtime routine. While Fluffy can’t seem to do anything quite right (“Oh, Fluffy” is a repeated refrain as the dog lolls around instead of “streak[ing] along the fence” or sniffs flowers instead of... his friends), he comes through when Percy loses his ball to an aggressive squirrel. Using punchy, dramatic exclamations, McGhee (Tell Me a Tattoo Story) humorously creates an imagined inner dialogue of a high-energy pet (“Little porkie pie! Sweet poopsie muffin, come to papa!” Percy cries as he gets his ball back), and Mann’s (Sam and Jump) breezy portraits will be familiar to anyone who’s spent even a little time around dogs in action. Ages 4–8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)