Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Start a Club by Accident

November 15, 2018
Hounds Waldo and Sassy are now fully integrated into life at Bea Arthur Memorial Elementary School.Disguised as human student Salty (who must be a very weird-looking child), the pooches love school. They love running fast in gym and singing in music class. Most of all they love the cafeteria; school lunch is the most delicious food imaginable. When their human boy, Stewart, joins the Junior Office Supply Enthusiasts, a club his paperclip-happy parents enjoyed in their youths, the dogs are a bit dismayed to find out that this club isn't the kind you can eat, so Waldo and Sassy head to the cafeteria to play "lunch human" while they wait. It's here they inadvertently start a club of their own. Can they convince Stewart, who doesn't smell as though he enjoys his club, to resign and join theirs? What will his parents say? Young readers will get a kick out of the wordplay and the many puns, while the irony will induce plenty of eye-rolling among adults. The same playful design elements that distinguished the series opener are present: special typefaces indicate the dogs' favorite foods and "Salty's" dialogue. Human skin color isn't called out within the text, but the familiar cartoonish black-and-white artwork shows a diverse cast of characters, led once again by white Stewart.Fans of the first should enjoy this second hijinks-filled outing of this school story/animal fantasy hybrid. (Fantasy. 7-12)

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December 1, 2018
Grades 4-6 It's another hilarious romp through dog world as Waldo and Sassy, the pups who dressed in a trench coat and followed their beloved buddy Stewart into a whirl of marvels both tasty and intellectually dazzling at school, find themselves in the middle of a ragtag afterschool club. This time, they're meeting in the savory lunchroom and constructing a float for the local Founder's Day Parade, which shoots, what else, club sandwiches and other goodies. Blithely rolling with the doggy deception, Falatko trots in a multispecies supporting cast as foils and, to add a few human subplots, scampers through views of a rather odd assortment of other float-making clubs, and leaps gleefully into a chaotic climax highlighted by an aw-shucks bonding moment between an unhappy classmate and a previously unwanted pooch. Jack adds cartoon illustrations to almost every page (not seen), the banter goes on nonstop, and, reflecting proper doggy values, every reference to food in the narrative is bolded throughout. Compelling reading for everyone with an eye on the meatball.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)