I'm a Veterinarian (A Tinyville Town Book)

January 1, 2017
A vet gives readers a first-person account of a day at the animal clinic. After feeding a menagerie of cats, dogs, and fish at home, Val, who is black, sets out on her bike to take care of the pets of Tinyville. Her first patient is firedog Flash (accompanied by firefighter Charlie, making a cameo). She checks the pup out and eventually removes a sock from her belly. Val returns home to her baby and her husband, who is also black and who appears to be a stay-at-home dad. The companion title, I'm a Firefighter, introduces Charlie, although he is never named here, the bushily mustachioed, white firefighter readers encountered in the previous book. When the alarm blares through the firehouse, Charlie, accompanied by three colleagues (multiethnic; one appears to be a woman), races to the firetruck with their Dalmatian. The crew puts out a fire at the town's bakery, and the grateful baker, whom readers will likely meet in a future release, gives them armfuls of bread which they add to their firehouse supper. While a couple of details are a little inaccurate in the art (firefighters usually can't sport bushy mustaches, and Val fails to pull her surgical mask over her nose), Biggs' cheerfully chunky cartoon style, which employs a thick black line and bold colors against white backgrounds, is friendly and inviting. There is just enough text, with one to two sentences per page, to hold toddlers' attention. Little ones will enjoy meeting the professionals of Tinyville and seeing familiar faces across the series. (Board book. 2-4)

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September 1, 2016
Preschool Before she goes to work, Tinyville Town's vet feeds her own menagerie of animals. Then she bikes to her office, which is filled with waiting patients. Flash the dog needs an X-ray, and sure enough, he's swallowed a sock. In an unlikely turn, his owner watches during the simple operation, but afterward, Flash is sent home with a clean bill of health. Told in first person (you don't learn the vet's first name unless you read the flap copy), this moves along quickly, features a multicultural cast, and has plenty of dogs and cats to increase the cuteness factor. The characters are as sturdy as the book's pages. Publishing simultaneously are Tinyville Town: I'm a Veterinarian and Tinyville Town Gets to Work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)