February 15, 2019
Smart dog King and his human, Kayla, help a lost dog find his people.King and Kayla work together to solve mysteries, with King narrating their tales in his distinctive voice. The two are on vacation at Grandma's house near a lake, and King discovers a new friend in the bushes. King soon learns that Fred lost his humans during the firecrackers "five or one nights ago." His collar is lost, but Kayla guesses from his behavior that he is not a stray. Since Kayla can't understand "a word Fred says," King is the one to collect clues. He learns that Fred's family is staying at a campground, but he can't add this to Kayla's "list of things we know." He can't add the campground's location to Kayla's "list of things we don't know." While Kayla tries to devise a plan, King tries to communicate his--find the campground! The humans don't understand, but luckily, Kayla asks Grandma if they can ride on the lake and ask other boaters. From the water, Fred sees the campground, and he eagerly jumps, swims, and reunites with his people. Simple, clean, line-drawn and digitally colored illustrations depict happy, lovable animals and a diverse cast of humans. Kayla and Grandma are black, and Fred's family is brown.This fast-paced mystery is a fun addition to this series for new readers. (Early reader. 5-8)
COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 1, 2019
The fifth standalone adventure in the Geisel Honorwinning series finds dog King and girl Kayla visiting Grandma's lake house. When a lost dog, Fred, is discovered, King uses deduction to reunite Fred with his people at a nearby campground. King's enthusiasm is, as always, hilarious. With alternating sentence lengths, strong word repetition, plot-reinforcing illustrations, and plentiful white space, this is a supportive early chapter book.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)