Red and Rover: Fun’s Never Over

Gr 3-5–Basset’s latest collection of comics is a fun throwback to 1950s and 60s life. The story surrounds Red, a 10-year-old boy, and Rover, his dog/sidekick, in imaginative situations. From dealing with Red’s older brother, Martin, to pretending to be astronauts, all while having full conversations, Red and Rover are constant companions. Their experiences are real-life, sometimes outlandish, and often humorous. Each page of the collection is one complete vignette in traditional comic strip format. The intermittent wordless pages, with illustrations in basic colors, allow the reader to make inferences and will attract the most reluctant of readers. Red and Rover are reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes without their more mature vocabulary and situations. There is not a true story arc to the book because of its format, but this allows readers to draw their own conclusions about Red and Rover’s adventures.