Jump for Joy
by Karen Gray Ruelle; illus. by Hadley Hooper
Preschool, Primary    Astra    32 pp.
1/24    9781662602023    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781662602030    $11.99

A girl named Joy has always wanted a dog. It doesn’t matter what kind: “She’d know her dog when she saw him.” Jump, a dog, has loved kids for as long as he can remember. Like Joy, “he’d know his kid when he saw her.” As each longs for the other, they are shown on opposite sides of the spread, parallel but apart. Throughout the year, they form dogs and kids, respectively, out of each season’s offerings—e.g., in spring, Joy makes a dog from flowers and Jump makes a kid out of ferns, but both eventually wilt and fall to the ground. After a year passes, lush new flowers and ferns grow again. When Joy and Jump greet their flora aloud, they finally see each other. Ruelle’s simple story uses repetition and alliteration to good effect. Hooper colors the child and dog in soft, warm beiges using brush and ink. The delicate background collages are primarily black and white until the characters meet, and then everything transforms into color. A sweetly told friendship story set against the changing seasons.

From the January/February 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.