Being a dog, Mr. Bud leads a dog's life. It is most gratifying: eat, walk, nap, nap, nap, eat, walk, movie, sleep-"and everybody stuck to the schedule. No exceptions." Then young Zorro, a pug, joins the family and threatens to make a hash of things. Zorro comes equipped with his own toys, his own moods and-forefend!-his own schedule, but it turns out to jibe with Mr. Bud's, and that common ground launches their friendship. Goodrich has a delightfully economical and humorous voice: trim yet filled with barely contained emotion-kind of like a dog. "One day, right at greet and make a fuss time... / there was a stranger. / And there was trouble" (the fateful confrontation takes place over three pages). In the background, in a lighter typeface, are the voices of humans, largely ignored. And the artwork is arresting, done in watercolors of enormous personality and quality. Mr. Bud is a mutt and mostly nose; Zorro is all face: expressive, raccoon eyes and a mouth that speaks volumes if not words. Goodrich catches them in classic dog behavior-supine with legs akimbo, charging out the door before it is fully open, expectant with chin on the edge of the bed-and he graces them with the kind of appeal that you really want to see them again.(Picture book. 4-8)
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