ALA Booklist (Fri May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

Yotam, a young boy, is Bailey's favorite, and he routinely walks her in the mornings. One day, a distracted Yotam loosely ties Bailey to a chair outside a café and goes to greet a bud. When Bailey gets startled by a passerby, her leash comes undone. Oh no! Bailey is missing for two full nights and three agonizing days. Yotam's family searches for her, posts flyers, and misses her terribly. But neighborly friends lend a helping hand and soon, Bailey is found! Inspired by a true story, this picture book introduces themes of responsibility, accountability, community, collaboration, and teamwork. The splendid illustrations capture contemporary Brooklyn, its fashion, and its diversity. There are charming details on every spread, which include examples of motion and onomatopoeia. A fun way to explore the city and a great opportunity for Brooklyn kids to learn street names and addresses in their neighborhood. Pair with Ariel Bernstein's Where is My Balloon? (2019) and Salvatore Rubbino's A Walk in New York (2009).

Kirkus Reviews

This picture book could serve as a tourist's guide to Brooklyn.Yotam has the sort of neighbors anyone might wish for: Debbie, who walks her turtle and pit bull at the same time; the man with a big bushy beard; the man with 10 cats. (The neighborhood is multicultural, but Yotam's family is white.) All the neighbors try to help out when Yotam's dog runs away after being startled. He had tied Bailey's leash to a metal chair, which is pretty much the definition of "accident waiting to happen," and no pet owner will have trouble believing the book was inspired by a true story. The creators—especially VanderPloeg—get every detail right: There's the woman with the "BUSY LADY" tote bag. There's Yotam's anxious fantasy that Bailey is at the Prospect Park Zoo, sleeping on a branch like a monkey. The off-kilter perspective in the illustrations is enchanting but difficult to describe; if Grandma Moses and Maira Kalman could have a baby, that baby would paint this book. The tone of the story moves flawlessly from genuinely hilarious (the scene where Bailey runs with a metal chair even incorporates sound effects) to bittersweet and mysterious: Bailey returns, but she's slightly injured, and the last line is: "He would never know where she had gone those missing nights, but he knew where she would be sleeping tonight." Whew.Readers may finish this book and move straight to Brooklyn. (Picture book. 5-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

LePape, Bailey-s real-life owner, is ably assisted by Sohn (The Actress for adults) in telling this ripped-from-the-headlines story-well, ripped from a 2016 New York Times -Pet City- column, at any rate. Bailey bolts from her owners- customary coffee shop stop after being startled by a passerby. At the forefront of the effort to bring her home is her family: Ima and her two sons, Yotam and Emile, who plaster the neighborhood with posters. But a vivid secondary cast of sympathetic friends (Omar the shop owner, Mike the sanitation worker, and Felicia the mail carrier) and helpful strangers (-That way!- points a woman with a briefcase as Bailey scoots away) offer kind assists. VanderPloeg makes a lively picture book debut with fluid digital illustrations that include a double-spread, block-by-block map of the story-s Brooklyn setting; she combines a cosmopolitan aesthetic with a keen reportorial eye, immersing readers in the bustling energy of a close-knit, upscale community. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)