Like other stories of its ilk (Tess Weaver's Opera Cat
; James the Dancing Dog
by Linda Maybarduk), this tale features an animal with a preternatural appreciation for a lively art who is fortuitously awarded a place in the spotlight. For Jake, a wide-eyed, black-and-white pooch, this means being anointed "principal stagepaw." LeFrak, a member of the New York Philharmonic board of directors, will donate her share of the book's proceeds to benefit the orchestra. Unfortunately, the book is more well-intentioned than well-executed. The author makes good use of Jake as a reader surrogate when he trots through the various orchestra sections. "Jake!" says the dog's owner (the human principal stagehand, whose job it is to bring the conductor his baton at the start of each performance), "That's not a car
horn. That's a French
horn! See? The brass instruments are warming up now!" But the narrative feels flabby: incidents seem strung together, with little dramatic tension. Barnaski, a Polish artist making his children's book debut, works in rich acrylics and temperas, and saturates every page in dense, alluring color. His renderings of Jake evince a sweet cartoon sensibility, and while he's less adept at painting individual humans (they look a bit stiff), his group portraits of musicians effectively convey their concentration, dedication and élan. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)
