Ludwig the Space Dog

K-Gr 2—Ludwig is an adventurous canine who wants more out of life. He and his friends, who appear in 3-D when using cardboard glasses supplied with the title, spring from the pages of various books. Ludwig himself, for example, pops out to play from inside a rocket repair manual, while his friend Sophie, a hippo, is the former star of a book about the circus. The other animals are content to cavort through their paper world together, but Ludwig has loftier goals. He dreams about space every night and tries to learn to fly…but the results are painful. When a space visitor needs repair help, however, Ludwig's dreams come true and he says goodbye to his friends and takes off for the skies. This engaging adventure features somewhat disjointed text, but that is compensated with a satisfying story and unusual artwork—think the pages of an atlas, come to life—that will be made all the more compelling to children by the necessity of special glasses and the resulting "pop" of the images.