Uncle Everton departs on a voyage, leaving "smartest dog in the world" Barkus with Nicky and her family. In five brief chapters, Barkus and Nicky change her classroom dynamics, host a canine birthday party, find a kitten, and camp out in the backyard. The welcoming first-person narrative gives this early reader a homey feel. Bold, vivid hues pop atop solid-colored backgrounds.

A child grows to love a new canine companion in this initial offering in a new series of early chapter books by Newbery Medalist MacLachlan.Protagonist Nicky narrates the story, which is divided into five brief chapters with short sentences set in large type. Nicky's new pet, Barkus, is a large, brown dog who seems friendly, smart, and well-behaved. In short, episodic chapters, Barkus joins Nicky at school, celebrates his birthday with some canine pals, and finds a pet kitten as his special companion. In the final chapter, Nicky, Barkus, and the kitten spend the night in a backyard tent, with Nicky conquering a longstanding fear of the dark. Nicky tells the dog and kitten a bedtime story, which effectively summarizes the entire book in an amusing way. Nicky and Nicky's parents are white, the teacher has tan skin, and Nicky's classmates are a multiethnic group. Cheery illustrations with a perky, 1960s vibe feature polka-dot patterns on the cover and endpapers and depict characters with buggy, cartoon-style eyes. Illustrations on almost every page include a variety of format sizes from small vignettes to full pages, alternating between white and brightly colored backgrounds. Nicky, Barkus, and Baby the kitten will appeal to fans of the Henry and Mudge series as well as to the younger picture-book audience. (Early reader. 4-7)

Forget about every dog having its day: floppy-eared Barkus owns the entire calendar in this upbeat collection of five stories that bridges picture book and chapter book terrain. Barkus is the -smartest dog in the whole world,- according to globetrotting Uncle Everton, who gives Barkus to his niece Nicky. -Does he bark?- asks Nicky-s father. -Only when he wants to,- replies Uncle Everton. But smarts alone don-t explain Barkus-s charisma. He follows Nicky to school and, instead of getting the boot, becomes the class dog (-Maybe he will help us all learn to read,- says the teacher, after Barkus barks approvingly at the word -dog-). After Barkus decides he doesn-t want a -quiet little party- for his birthday, the neighborhood dogs show up and raise the roof, and when Barkus finds a kitten, he gets to both keep and name it. Boutavant (Edmond, the Moonlit Party) contributes cheery, brightly colored cartooning with a 1960s-minimalist aesthetic, but what-s truly beguiling is MacLachlan-s (The Poet-s Dog) benevolent worldview, which suggests that anything-s possible if you are clever, reasonably well behaved, and fun to be around. Ages 6-9. Author-s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (June)