Frequent collaborators Philip C. Stead and Matthew Cordell return with another joy-generating, animal-centric picture book. Every Dog in the Neighborhood is an upbeat entertainment starring a grandmother-grandson duo who set out to do right by the canine population in their community.
Louis wants to know how many dogs are in the neighborhood. When his inquiring letter to the city fails to produce the number, Louis sets out with a clipboard to canvass his neighbors. Stead has given narrator Louis an unfiltered sweetness that turns Every Dog in the Neighborhood into a true heartstrings tugger. Caldecott-winner Cordell uses loose lines and easy-breezy watercolors to capture a neighborhood that's both old-fashionedly tight-knit and conspicuously contemporary: with his swoopy hair and snazzy checked outfit, hipster-in-training Louis fits right in with his community's dog-loving artsy types. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author