Perla the Mighty Dog

Confident and voluble, pooch protagonist Perla—wearing a pink pearl necklace with a star pendant—narrates Chilean American author Allende’s picture book debut, demonstrating that fierceness and love can be two sides of the same coin. Perla has “two superpowers. Number one: I can make anybody love me. Number two: I can roar like a lion.” Before launching into the main drama, Perla supplies ample backstory, describing young human Nico Rico’s persuading his family to take Perla in (“He threatened to stop breathing and die on the spot if they didn’t”), Nico’s family (their home “once belonged to a wizard”), and more. Meandering text eventually reveals Nico’s anguish about being bullied at school, and describes a day at the park when the family encounters a large, unleashed canine. Using superpower number two, Perla chases the marauder off, a move that inspires Nico to confront the school bully with the same joyous ferocity. Sprightly, animated watercolor and ink drawings by Rodriguez (Lola and the Troll) adhere to the text, maintaining the story’s high energy level and finding ways to include the touches of domestic magic gestured to throughout this sprightly tale about an unlikely animalian hero. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (May)