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

After citing previous presidential promises, such as when Kennedy promised to land a man on the moon, Weatherford (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Racing Against the Odds) moves on to Barack Obama's promise to his daughters that they can get a puppy. While their father campaigned, Malia and Sasha “wore curls and party dresses to join their parents onstage” and “put up with Secret Service agents always on their heels,” believing, the author muses, “it was worth it if they finally got their dog.” Building up to first dog Bo's arrival at the White House, the account spotlights several previous presidents' canines and imagines the process of deciding what kind of dog the family might choose. The story is curiously anticlimactic, providing scant info about Bo, who appears only on the final spread. Rendered in watercolor, pencil and gouache, Bates's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight) illustrations have a loose, sketchy quality, emphasizing the energetic nature of the various dogs that appear. Ages 4–8. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Nov.)

ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

This brief, lighthearted chronicle of the Obama family's search for a suitable puppy to fulfill candidate Obama's promise to his daughters focuses on Malia and Sasha. But it also brings in information about promises made by previous presidents, various breeds of dogs that lived in the White House, whimsical duties of a first dog ("negotiating treats," "guarding the Rose Garden against invasion"). The climax is the choice of an appropriate breed and the announcing of the name. The final page features very concise information about other White House pets. Lively watercolor, pencil, and gouache illustrations featuring a smiling Obama family happy in their endeavors, portraits of select past presidents, and a lineup of adorable potential first pooches add to the telling. Overall, a work that is certainly worthy of our first pooch. Use as a lead-in to works about possibly lesser-known White House occupants such as Fala (First Dog Fala by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, 2008) and Alice Roosevelt (What to Do about Alice? by Barbara Kerley, 2008).

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Weatherford's lighthearted fictionalized text traces the First Family's progress in researching and finally selecting their promised pooch. The story is extended with appended notes on the canine selection processes among former presidential families. Bates's watercolor, pencil, and gouache paintings capture the personalities not only of the various pups but also of the Obama family members and past presidents.

School Library Journal (Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2009)

K-Gr 2 Weatherford makes the Bo Obama story fresh by keeping the focus on the First Family. Children see how Malia and Sasha worked hard to earn their pup by graciously tolerating the rigors of campaigning. They read about the various steps of the selection process, including the allergy dilemma. The media frenzy over which breed, then what name, is treated with good humor, as are the "duties" of the First Dog: meeting the presidential helicopter, fetching presidential slippers, negotiating treats, etc. The author completes the story by assuring readers that "pets everywhere have a voice in the White House. 'Woof! Woof!'" Bates's realistic illustrations in watercolor, pencil, and gouache pack in the fun. From the sisters' secret celebration behind the election-night podium, to a cozy dog-research session in a canopied bed, the illustrator keeps the youngsters' points of view at the forefront. Weatherford wraps up with a page about 11 other presidents' pets. Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA