Dot

K-Gr 2—In this heavy-handed picture book, halted rhyming text introduces readers to a child who spends a lot of time with electronic devices. "This is Dot. Dot knows a lot. She knows how to tap…to touch…to tweet…and to tag." Cartoon illustrations with bright pinks and yellows show her happily moving from phone to laptop to tablet and back while a loyal little dog vies unsuccessfully for her attention. At the height of the story, readers learn that Dot loves to talk (and talk) through a phone or a screen, but the page turn finds Dot collapsed at the end of a string of devices. Her mother then propels her outside and the text repeats, "Outside…Dot remembers…to tap…to touch…to tweet…and to tag," with the visuals paralleling how these verbs function in the physical world. The story has a clear message, but the construction of the narrative is awkward, confusing, and overburdened with ellipses.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA