A Family for Louie

Louie is a food-loving French bulldog who eats raspberry pancakes for breakfast and fish tacos for lunch, dines alone at neighborhood restaurants, and quietly longs for a family of his own. Alexandra Thompson's 2020 debut picture book follows his search through several households until a bakery owner's young daughter decides he belongs with them. Kirkus called it 'sweet but not saccharine,' Booklist praised the vibrant, cozy city illustrations as 'a joy to follow,' and the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books deemed it 'effortlessly cute.' The honest caveat: the story leans hard on Louie's charm, the resolution comes quickly, and there is not much narrative complexity for older readers to return to. For the target age of three to seven, though, a food-loving dog searching for a forever family is just about perfect.