Ben and the Scaredy-Dog

PreS-Gr 1—Ben watches through his window as a new family moves in across the street and can hardly believe his luck when he sees a kid his age. "Maybe a friend?" he thinks, but this notion vanishes when he notices that the kid has a dog: "A big dog. Big jaws. Big teeth." Ben and Erv (short for Minerva) do become friends, but Ben is nervous when he is invited over to Erv's house, where the dog, Max, would be off a leash. When Ben learns that Max is uneasy about his new abode (and afraid of the shiny floors of the playroom), Ben nearly forgets about his fear, and in a triumphant turn of events, the scaredy-dog and dog-fearing boy become brave allies and buddies. Emphasized in thick, crayonlike outlines, the soft, cartoon illustrations add comfort and charm to this encouraging, gentle narrative about a common childhood fear.