See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat by David La Rochoelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, Reading Level 1.5
See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat
illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Review Copy from Candlewick Press
The team that brought us the superlative picture book (and great social-emotional learning text) How to Apologize won the 2021 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for their beginning reader, See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, which is also a very fun read-out-loud. If you read See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, then you caught a glimpse of Baby Cakes (in a green dress and riding a pink unicorn) and are primed for See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat. And you also know that the humor (and the tension) comes from the fact that the narrator and the main character have some conflicts to work out.
And again, there are some great twists and laughs that I don't want to ruin for anyone, so I will not be divulging much of the plot of this book, which begins with the cat telling readers, in a word bubble, that the dog is sick and asked for a Baby Cakes to take his place. As with all great children's book buddies (Frog and Toad, Elephant and Piggie, Ivy and Bean) opposites attract. Where Dog was a bit of a rule follower who tried to work with the narrator, Baby Cakes is ready for action and full of ideas. The title page for each of the three stories in this book (and the first) hold clues in their illustrations for what is to come. Story number one has a bright yellow hardhat beneath the title and story number two, "See the Lake," has an illustration of an open bag of marshmallows, Most surprising, the third story, "See the Sheep," has an illustration of a hammer. I don't think I'll be giving too much away by telling you that Max makes an appearance in this third and final story . . .
I'm not sure where Max and Baby Cakes can go from here, but I have no doubt that the brilliant minds of David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka will figure it out!
