ANNOTATION

When her dog Lulu dies, a girl grieves but then continues with her life.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Predictable yet heart-rending, Demas's (The Disappearing Island) tale opens as the young narrator explains what happens as her dog gets "really" old: Lulu doesn't climb stairs and her sight fails. The child carries her pet out to the grass when she can no longer walk and, as the dog's condition deteriorates, the child covers a sleeping Lulu with a sweater ("the one she always pulled off my chair and curled up with when I wasn't home") and lays down beside her, stroking her back and telling her that she loves her ("But she already knew that"). In a scene that seems compulsory in books on this theme, the girl's father reassures her that they will get another dog "after Lulu," and the child insists she doesn't want another dog but wants "Lulu back, the way she used to be." The mother's insightful observation that the dying pet is now much like she was as a newborn, when her eyes were not yet open and she slept all the time provides some comfort. Though they'll know what is coming, readers will surely be affected by the author's spare, sad description of Lulu's death and burial, the girl's grieving-and her expected change of heart about acquiring another pet. Rendered in watercolor, colored pencil and pen-and-ink and featuring a pastel-dominated palette, Hoyt's (I'm a Manatee) lively, homespun art nimbly conveys the range of emotions that run through this comforting story. Ages 4-8. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Our appealing narrator begins her story when her dog Lulu has begun to be unable to do all the things they used to enjoy doing together. Lulu can't walk any more, and has to be fed by hand. "I don't want another dog," she tells her parents. "I want Lulu back the way she used to be." When Lulu dies, she is of course sorely missed. But finally a new puppy begins to heal the wound and bring new happiness. The front end-papers show our narrator and dog walking along a country lane. The rear pages depict a similar scene but with a different, younger dog. The story pages, deftly created light-heartedly with watercolors, pencil, pen and ink, make the connection in time with scenes of sentimental appeal, heavy on both the sadness of loss and the eventual joy of a new beginning. Both heroine and dogs are charmingly real. Compare with Emily Chichester Clark's recent Up in Heaven (Doubleday) for another fine way to help children cope with a pet dog's death. 2004, Little Brown and Company, Ages 4 to 8.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Lulu, a black-and-white mutt, is adored by her freckle-faced owner, a girl whose parents gently guide her through the various stages of caring for an aging and then very sick dog. When the inevitable happens, memories of the past and hope for the future bring a bittersweet conclusion to this straightforward and affecting story. The emotions of the nameless narrator are clearly and simply shown. She describes how, when Lulu became blind and deaf, she "-fed her from my hand and held her water bowl so she could drink." The pictures, too, excel in tenderness without sentimentality. The realistic-looking cartoons, done with watercolor, colored pencil, and pen and ink, strongly convey the personalities of both girl and dog as they share good times and difficult moments. While this book does not break any new ground, it is accessible and appealing, and the death of a pet is a perennial childhood issue. Two similar titles, DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan's A Dog Like Jack (Holiday, 1999) and Marjorie Blain Parker's Jasper's Day (Kids Can, 2002), feature boys as main characters, so a book about a girl facing the same situation is welcome.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Lulu is a black-and-white, elderly dog who is adored by the unnamed narrator of this gracefully told story of love and loss. The little girl who tells the story knows that Lulu is old and unwell; even though she helps care for Lulu and sees the dog's decline, she doesn't want to face what is coming. The dog's death and the child's anger, sadness, and eventual acceptance are handled sensitively and in terms appropriate for children just learning about death, always underscored with gentle, realistic support from the girl's quietly understanding parents. The story concludes several months later with the little girl picking out a new puppy and realizing that she can start to love another dog. Hoyt's perceptive illustrations in watercolor with colored pencil and ink help create convincing personalities for both Lulu and the little girl and add a timeless, cozy quality that contributes to the story's reassuring tone. (Picture book. 3-7)