Picture Perfect Pick: Here Comes Trouble!

This is the picture of Always in Trouble, an earlier book. The dog is the same one in both books. The cover of Here Comes Trouble not yet available.

Here Comes Trouble!
by Corinne Demas
Illustrations by Noah Z. Jones
Scholastic Press
2013
34 pages—page count of F & G from the publisher; final page count unavailable
Available January 2013 (exact date not yet available on Scholastic’s webpage)


Toby the dog doesn’t like cats—not slinky ones, or snooty ones, or snobby ones or spunky ones. He really doesn’t like the cat that lives next door. Pandora is all the things Toby hates, and worse, she never pays any attention to Toby. He tries all kinds of bad dog behavior but in oh-so-typical, detached cat behavior, she ignores him.

Then the neighbors go on vacation leaving their beloved Pandora in the care of Toby’s owners, Emma and her parents. Pandora soon becomes pet #1 with Emma who showers affection on her. Pandora does all types of nasty cat things like clawing the sofa and jumping on the kitchen counters. She never gets into trouble, but when she finds herself up a tree, literally, Toby comes to her rescue. His humans ignore his barking and running around in circles. They don’t realize that their dog is trying to communicate. Then Toby has to spell it out for them—again, literally!

Charming and heroic Toby is sure to have young readers laughing and cheering for the underdog (get it? underdog?) Colorful and comic illustrations are a perfect balance of whimsy and spunk. The author shows literary craft in choosing words that describe each character: Pandora “prances” and “pirouetted” ; she “slinked” and she “winked.” Toby “trotted,” barked,” “clawed,” leaped,” “chewed,” “grumbled,” and “growled.”

From the title, I thought the dog’s name would be “Trouble.” The cat’s name is Pandora, after all. Nothing like a little Trouble to go with Pandora, but maybe that’s too obvious.

Highly, highly recommended for early readers. This one is too cute to miss!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)