A boy promises to show readers how he trained his dog in 10 days-but Scamp seems to have his own plans.A young boy with brown skin and a fluffy black Afro begins the first day of his dog-training journey by showing the gray, shaggy mutt his doghouse. He tells the dog that while he is permitted to venture into the backyard, "you have to stay out of the flower bed, and you absolutely cannot go into the house." The illustration shows Scamp on his haunches in the flower bed next to a pictorial no-dogs sign. In the next double-page spread, labeled "Day 2" in a childlike scrawl, Scamp stands in the kitchen, wagging his tail, with muddy paws and uprooted flowers in his mouth. The boy goes easy on Scamp and tells him that while he is now allowed "to help in the garden" and to enter the family room, "you are not allowed to play my video games." The following double-page spread depicts Scamp doing exactly that, and a hilarious cumulative tale ensues. Kids will pick up and recite the repeating lines easily, and they will enjoy Scamp's antics and the surprise ending, which reveals Scamp's keen insight into human psychology. There are several very funny illustrations that will get lots of laughs, including one in which Scamp takes a bath while wearing a shower cap.A very funny shaggy dog story. (Picture book. 4-8)

PreS-Gr 2 In this charming instructional book, an unnamed boy with a lovely mass of black hair struggles with training his adorable, scruffy dog, Scamp. Actually, the boy brags that he has succeeded in training his dog in 10 days, but readers will cop to the fact that every day that passes, Scamp misbehaves, causing the narrator to revise his rules. In the end, Scamp has taken over the boy's bed and is seen on the last page penning his own book, "How I Trained My Boy." The boy has brown skin and stylish outfits that change from day to day. With his shaggy mouth, black and gray Scamp resembles a Scottish terrier. Both characters are depicted in cartoonish drawings that further send up the "training" as Scamp's behavior gets more and more absurd. VERDICT It's a draw. Both heroes believe they have succeeded, but the real winners are readers, who will love the shaggy dog tale at the center of this adorably silly story.Clara Hendricks, Cambridge P.L., MA