Grandfather's Laika — Mats Wahl

Gr 1-4-- A fully developed story of the death of a family pet and how a young boy is affected. Every day after school Matthew is met by Grandpa and his dog, Laika. They follow certain rituals indicating a well-established and comfortable relationship. One cold rainy day, Grandpa tells Matthew that Laika is sick; a week later she is put to sleep. As his grandfather explains, her body is gone but the memory of how it feels to pet her will be left behind. The idea of foolhardiness crops up throughout the story, at times with seemingly misplaced emphasis. Can a dog be foolhardy, or an old tin can? Yet the counterbalance between the birch tree, under which Laika is buried, and the willow tree, which subtly underlines the continuation of life even as the earth is covered in snow, is nicely achieved. The personality of the dog is perfectly captured in the illustrations: loving and gentle yet old and tired. Nygren makes good use of textual themes and elements in his pastel and block-print illustrations, putting variety and emotional inspiration in each composition. Although the text is at times a bit long-winded and Grandpa's own emotions are overlooked, the story rings true with the loss a young child feels. A good extension of Viorst's ever popular The Tenth Good Thing about Barney (Atheneum, 1971). --Martha Topol, Interlochen Public Library, MI