Every Dog in the Neighborhood

How many dogs live in the neighborhood? Louis decides to find out—by meeting every single one.\nLouis really wants a dog, but his Grandma insists, “There are enough dogs in the neighborhood already.” While Louis disagrees, he realizes he needs more information to support his argument: so he sets out to figure out how many dogs live in the neighborhood.\nWhile Grandma sets out on errands of her own, Louis starts knocking on doors. He meets big dogs and little dogs, dogs with jobs, dogs who eat socks, and dogs who are much missed. (He also meets cats, and birds, and one very big python, but those don’t count!)\nBy the time he gets home Louis is ready to tell Grandma just how many dogs are in the neighborhood. . . . But Grandma thinks he just might have missed one. A particularly loveable dog. A dog who needs a new home.\nMaybe there are enough dogs in the neighborhood after all.\nPhilip Stead and Caldecott Medalist Matt Cordell team up once again for a sweet, offbeat tale about a loving grandparent and grandchild in the tradition of Follow That Frog and Special Delivery. Perfect for dog lovers, of course—but the charming, subtle messages of community and compassion will appeal across the animal kingdom.\nA School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Books of the Year
A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection\nFrom School Library Journal\nK-Gr 3-What a pleasure to see sprawling urban neighborhood scenes with every kind of adult, child, and dog imaginable, all packed into a picture book. For children who love dogs, this sweet story, charmingly limned by Cordell, follows a grandmother and her grandson, Louis, as they spend time trying to remedy a problem. Louis, resembling a sheepdog with black bangs hiding most of his face, canvasses the neighborhood to find out how many dogs live there after Grandma says there are too many for him to have one of his own. Grandma has a campaign of her own, concerning a vacant lot. By the end of the story, Louis has counted 20 neighborhood dogs, including the one he adopts, and his grandmother has turned the lot into a dog park. Louis's innocent but matter-of-fact narration is entertaining for all ages (with plenty of inside literary jokes to boot), while the illustrations show Cordell's signature sketchbook style of thin black outlines and soft watercolor paint. The art matches the tone of the book, making this a gentle and pleasant read. VERDICT In spite of its outwardly comical premise, this book delivers a ton of information on canvassing, addressing city agencies, amassing data, and getting things done. It can bolster various programs and collections, and makes a great addition to any shelf.-Sarah Westα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.