Nugget and Darling

“Joosse uses dialogue to add spunk and freshness to a nicely textured narrative that sets up a familiar scenario: the loving relationship between a little girl and her dog, Nugget, is tested when Nugget comes across a bedraggled kitten, and the girl takes it in. Truesdell’s illustrations, reminiscent of James Stevenson’s, are a hoot, smoothly tempering the inherent sentimentality of the story with a broadly comic depiction of Nugget’s vacillating emotions: curiosity, jealousy, dejection, and, finally, satisfied resignation as three individuals become a trio at last . . . . ‘Ahhh.’”—ALA Booklist