PIPIOLO AND THE ROOF DOGS

Luminous illustrations, as appealingly cracked and faded as weather-beaten adobe walls, highlight this lovely-to-look-at first effort by a husband-and-wife team. Washing the pages with intense desert colors, Edgerton evokes the sights, smells and colors of a small Mexican village as seen by Lupe, a girl with an extraordinary dog named Pipiolo. The inseparable pair spend their days roaming the desert, "exploring all the wonderful aromas the world had to offer." In contrast, the dogs who guard the houses from the rooftops are "imprisoned on a small patch of hot concrete." A four-legged Simon Bolivar in training, Pipiolo inspires the roof dogs to dream of a better life with his "long" and "eloquent" barking ("He spoke of freedom, courage, cooperation, and action—and of all the smells yet to be experienced"), then leads a mass escape to the mountains. Meunier's storytelling takes on a magical realist tone ("Through the cracks of our adobe house, I could smell him sleeping. I could smell his dreams"), but more modern phrases ("We had made a difference!") undercut the mood. Lupe's character is not fully fleshed out, and her heightened sense of smell remains an enigma. While action-loving readers will cheer Pipiolo's heroics, the underlying political symbolism of his actions will likely fly over their heads. The lush illustrations buoy this book, but the story's holes will likely confuse the audience. Ages 5-8. (Aug.)