A coworker of mine, when he heard I was having a little girl, and discovering that I was the owner of two dogs, told me about this book. 

“I read it every night to my daughter, who is allergic to dogs, but wants one so badly” said Dave.

“I ADORE this book,” said Jessica.

And I do. I was head over heels, from the very beginning:

“The end of Kate’s bed was a lonely place. Tiger the cat no longer slept there. Tiger died last winter, so there were only Kate’s two feet to keep each other company.”

Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones, or the still fresh wound of my favorite cat’s death last summer, but I’m not ashamed to say that before the book even properly started I was bawling in that most cathartic,  poignant way that we all need once in a while.

Poignant is probably the perfect word to describe this shiny, polished, pitch-perfect gem of a children’s book – ‘modern’ illustrations aside (it took me a few pages to realize that the two tattooed and pierced parents were a mom and a dad and not two lesbians).  Kate and her parents to go the animal rescue center and pick out Dave, an impetuous, high energy puppy (Dave looks suspiciously like a Jack Russell terrier, woe to them all, and the entire reason for the sequel  – The Trouble With Dogs, said Dad).  But their heartstrings are tugged further by big, boat-sized, stolid Rosy, an older, less exciting candidate. 

You know where this is going,.  Exactly where it should, in my opinion:

“Kate’s feet are no longer lonely under the blankets.  It seems like Dave and Rosy have always been there.  Their weight is comfortable and reliable, and will stop Kate’s bed from floating away into the night.”