The Cowboy

A sunny beach is the unlikely setting for some cowboy heroics in this sweet-natured I Like to Read book from German author-illustrator Müller. “This is me. My name is Anna. This is my dog. His name is Toto,” announces the narrator, a blonde girl who proceeds to affix Toto with a leash and bandanna (at which point it’s revealed that Toto is actually a pull-toy). Müller’s digital illustrations have the rough, loose feel of pastels as Toto “learn[s] how to swim,” at the beach, briefly appearing to surf on his wheeled base. When a wave carries the toy away, a boy in what Anna previously dismissed as “a very silly cowboy hat” lassos the dog and returns him to his appreciative owner: “ ‘Thank you,’ I say to the boy with the beautiful cowboy hat.” A charming (and appropriate) closing image shows the two children walking off into the sunset together, the young cowboy holding Toto’s leash and Anna swinging his lasso. It’s a gentle and subtly humorous story of finding friends in unexpected places. Ages 4–8. (May)