Spot & Dot
by Henry Cole; illus. by the author
Primary    Little Simon    32 pp.
8/19    978-1-5344-2555-2    $17.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-2556-9    $10.99

We first met cat Spot and Spot’s boy owner in Spot, the Cat (rev. 3/16). Here Cole adds two new characters: dog Dot (like Spot, white with one large oval black marking) and Dot’s girl owner. When Spot notices the girl putting up “lost” posters on the street, the cat dashes off in pursuit of the missing dog, and the boy joins the girl in her endeavors. As in the previous book, detailed wordless black-and-white double-page-spread cityscapes — filled to the brim with people, pets, vehicles, activity, life — ensue. Spot pursues Dot through an open-air market, a bakery, a park, a library, etc. Viewers will find the single large black spot on each pet crucial in locating Spot and Dot on every wonderfully crowded spread — although the fair amount of disruption the two cause wherever they go also helps draw the eye. All ends happily, with both pets home with their owners — who turn out to be apartment-building neighbors — and new friendships launched all around. A fresh, absorbing, and entertaining offering from a veteran picture-book creator.

From the July/August 2019 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.