Cool Dog, School Dog

Deborah Heiligman based this book on her own golden retriever Tinka, and the affection shows — Tinka's misery watching her boy leave each morning, her gleeful escape, the chaos she causes in the hallways, and the warm resolution that makes her a school reading buddy all feel genuinely observed rather than manufactured. Tim Bowers's illustrations are energetic and goofy in exactly the right proportions. The rhyming verse is infectious enough that Kirkus called it out specifically, and the book has found a natural home in reading-buddy programs precisely because its plot mirrors their purpose. The honest limitations: the story is thin by design, existing mostly to celebrate one funny premise rather than develop characters, and the rhyme scheme strains occasionally. Neither caveat matters much when you're reading it aloud to a five-year-old who loves dogs. A joyful, dependable classroom and library pick.