Sophie is an adorable chocolate lab with a wild imagination. She's used to being the only object of her owners' attention. But everything changes when a new baby is brought into her home: meet Doug, a cute baby boy with a one-word vocabulary who absolutely loves giving hugs. At first, Sophie doesn't appreciate this new addition to her family; Doug seems to be the new favorite in the house, and Sophie is not about it. Just when the two finally start to get along, they're introduced to two more new housemates. Chewy and Equinox are charming cats, but they seem to be up to something sinister. Sophie and Doug must work together to get to the bottom of what these two are up to. Anderson's wildly imaginative visuals, which recall classic comic strips, and excellent pacing work perfectly together in this playful series starter. Very reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes, this episodic comic will appeal to elementary-schoolers looking for zany laughs and playful dog antics.

In new and reworked episodes of the webcomic "Doug Eat Dog" recast into graphic format, a small chocolate Lab finds herself part of a growing householdFans of the long-running cartoon series will find themselves in familiar territory as a frisky pooch accustomed to "infinite attention and belly rubs" is suddenly forced to accommodate some distracting new arrivals-notably genius kittens Chewy and Equinox, and a big-headed "hairless meatball" named Doug whose first, and only, word is an endearing "Bak!" Squirrels, a spider named Carl, Constance the closet monster, and other occasional guests wander in for cameos, and though some raucous playtimes are cast into short storylines (e.g., "Commander Doug vs. the Labradorian" and "The Fast and the Furriest"), most pages are, like the original strips, discrete incidents with punchlines in the final panels. If the mix of adult-sounding dialogue ("Hey! You're not allowed on the furniture!" "What part ofwe're catsdo you not understand?") and broad humor is reminiscent of "Calvin and Hobbes," there's plenty of snuggling and dancing to give the hijinks a cozily domestic tone all their own. And, following a partial cast list at the end, Anderson adds a practical tidbit with the observation that dogs actually sweat through their paws. "So when they give you their paw, you're actually shaking their armpit." Good to know. The bright, dynamic art accentuates the characters' hilariously expressive faces.Fun, funny, and likely to draw new fans to the dynamic duo.(Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Gr 2–5— The newspaper comic strip seems a nostalgic notion in the current cartooning moment, which boasts graphic novels for every interest, age, and offers an exhaustive array of styles. This work—an expansion of Anderson's dog-focused webcomic Dog Eat Doug —harkens back to those heady days of Calvin and Hobbes and Baby Blues with an imaginative yet relatable tone and punchline-based comic pacing. Encapsulated, episodic stories of a pup called Sophie learning to live with her family's new bald-pated baby, Doug, come in six-panel chunks of storyline interspersed with flights of fancy wherein the dog imagines herself, baby in tow, as a towering tyrannosaurus, a canine cowpoke, or as a domestic defender against time-traveling cats. Whether it's getting into skirmishes with the neighborhood squirrels or gobbling up food the baby has dumped on the floor, Sophie's adventures are a lovely enticement to see things from a dog's-eye view, albeit a particularly reflective and philosophical one. Furthermore, Anderson's imaginative imagery finds absurd, energetic glee in simultaneously magnifying and making more adorable familiar fears, like backyard spiders and monsters under the bed. The visuals have a nostalgic touch as well; Sophie's pupil-less, white eyes recall centenarian hound Sandy in the "Little Orphan Annie" comics. VERDICT Old-fashioned in inviting ways, this graphic novel is an amiable hang-out for elementary readers.— Emilia Packard