Two storylines converge in a made-for-each-other moment when a lonely girl longing for a dog and a lonely dog longing for a home notice each other at last. But that’s the end of this charming story. Before that moment, a succession of spreads show the separate encounters of each character. Sitting in a park, the dog offers thoughts on a host of human passersby who maybe? perhaps? could be? the one for him. His hopes build but aren’t fulfilled. On the facing page of each spread, the girl, sitting on a nearby bench and separated from the dog’s view by shrubs, comments upon a parade of passing pooches, none of whom stop to answer her call for companionship. It is only when they see each other on the penultimate spread that what was meant to be becomes clear, and a turn of the page brings a joyful conclusion to this sparely drawn story that is brimming with desire and fulfillment. (Ages 3–7)