December 1, 2021
In this seek-and-find story aimed at children beginning their reading journey, readers follow a young boy and his dog as they search for naughty, elusive puppies. An artistic boy who is the namesake of Britain's famous Tate art gallery leaves home and walks to a museum with his rainbow-hued poodle, Pup, in tow. As they enter the museum, Pup notices five poodle pups, each a different color, trailing them. Once inside, the little whelps promptly blend into the elaborate exhibits. While Pup relentlessly searches for them with binoculars, Tate draws dinosaurs, planets, and butterflies in his sketchbook. Each time he draws, the text challenges readers to find the hidden pups in his crowded artwork. On the way home, Pup is gloomy, uncertain as to the puppies' fates. Children and adults alike will smile at the happy ending. This leveled reader uses predictable and repetitive text with sight words, but there is just enough variety in the sentences to support the amusing narrative. The illustrations, created with black gesso, ink, graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor, are the real centerpiece. Kirsch is just as adept at rendering the colorful museum exhibits as the grayscale, childlike drawings in Tate's sketchbook. Young readers will find the fun Where's Waldo?-element of this story hard to resist. Tate and the only other human character, a museum docent, are both White. Unabashedly artsy and sure to enjoy a long stay on the read-again shelf. (Picture book. 4-6)
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February 4, 2022
K-Gr 2-A cute interactive reader about a child, Tate, and Tate's toy, Pup. Tate, who is white, runs out of things to draw and decides to look for inspiration. Along the way, Pup sees five pups, who start to follow them. Tate and Pup visit what looks like an eclectic museum of natural history, and they draw while at each venue or installation. Readers get to see Tate's drawings, in which the book asks them to find a number of things. For example, "Can you see six dinosaurs?" or "Can you see eight planets?" After each question is always the follow-up, "Can you see the five pups?" Using watercolor, ink, and graphite, among other things, to create a whimsical setting, Kirsch presents charming characters in Tate and Pup. Although there is more activity than story, readers will be entertained by Tate and Pup, and there is enough text for beginning readers to practice without becoming frustrated. Similar titles include Eric Carle's 10 Little Rubber Ducks and Herv� Tullet's Press Here. VERDICT An artistic, quick read that uses short counting activities to engage readers. Recommended for purchase.-Hilary Tufo
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