Mommy, Baby, and Me

An orange corgi faces unwelcome changes in Marshall’s story of a growing family (the dog-as-displaced-sibling premise also popped up in Tony Fucile’s Poor Louie earlier this year). The unnamed dog narrates, making a direct appeal for readers’ sympathies. “A long time ago it was just Mommy and me. We were very good friends,” he begins, as Adamson (Shark Dog!) shows the two posing in photo-booth snapshots. Then Daddy enters the picture (“They cuddled. A lot”), and Baby arrives soon after. The dog has nothing but disdain for the noisy, smelly, and decidedly-not-housebroken newcomer, and in a particularly poignant scene, Adamson shows the pup staring up at the night sky, wishing “things could be the way they used to be.” Marshall (Kindergarten Is Cool!) smoothly transitions into the coming-together part of the story arc as the dog notices that the growing Baby gets around on all fours (“like me”) and makes a pretty good fetch partner. Uneasy new siblings should take to heart the message that it gets better. Ages 2–5. Author’s agent: Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis. Illustrator’s agent: Isabel Atherton, Creative Authors. (Oct.)