Emma Full of Wonders
by Elisha Cooper; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Roaring Brook    40 pp.
4/24    9781250884763    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781250375889    $11.99

“Emma was a large dog with many small dreams.” She dreams about her favorite things, such as rolling in the grass and splashing in water. In Cooper’s (most recently Yes & No, rev. 5/21) cheerful black-outlined watercolors, Emma’s dreams are pictured as small bluish-gray dogs frolicking vision-like above her. When not dreaming, Emma sometimes worries or feels all alone, and sometimes “her whole body [feels] strange.” Readers may wonder if our protagonist is sick or elderly, but—surprise!—one day, out from Emma’s body emerges a tiny puppy, arriving headfirst into the world. Big Emma (literally “full of wonders”) hasn’t been thinking back to her frisky puppyhood, but rather ahead to her future, very-active puppies. Re-reading is a treat: audiences will now see that lumpy Emma is obviously pregnant, her “favorite things” are her soon-to-be-born pups, and her growing dreams are her seven growing babies. Once again, small dogs cavort around Emma, this time, brown-and-tan like mom and solid as can be. Cooper’s small line drawings of a plump Emma adorn the book’s opening endpapers while chubby puppies romp about on the closing ones. There’s much to appreciate in this story about a gentle giant of a dog whose “dreams came true.”

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.