Treat

Reviewed by: Mary Peverada - Portland Public Library, Portland, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 29, 2016

Review

A smell wafting over a sleeping dog awakens him and sends him on a search for a "treat." He finds a young child eating cereal and watches hopefully until the last piece is popped into the child's mouth. The dog moves onto another child with a hotdog - but again fails to get a "treat." At this point the canine is determined to get a treat by some means but only finds a boy drawing, a woman sleeping and a man brushing his teeth. The baby's bottle might be a possibility but it is out of reach. Then he hears a voice calling the word he cherishes: TREAT - but it is a false alarm there are only toys in his dish. Sadly he goes to his bed and dreams of elusive treats until they take a nightmarish turn. He awakens to voices calling treat and he investigates to find that the two girls have created a treat just for him. The cartoon-like illustrations are so expressive - and move the action along at a perfect speed. The text is a repetition of the one word - "TREAT" Fonts, type size, word bubble shapes and punctuation perfectly create the humor, energy and imagination that moves this tale of desire to its tasty end.

Overall Book Score: very good