The Dog That Nino Didn't Have

Gr 1–3—This attractive oversize picture book, originally published in Belgium in 2013, has been translated from Flemish into simply stated, clipped English text with a distinctly foreign feel that depends heavily upon the accompanying artwork for clarification. For example, it opens, "Nino had a dog that he didn't have. Yes, he had that dog. Even though he didn't have it." It's the story of a young boy whose fearless little imaginary dog, drawn in fine ink pen for a see-through appearance, chases squirrels, dives straight into the deep water from Nino's rowboat, and licks salty tears from the child's face when he hears his dad's voice on the phone "from a country far, far away." Then Nino gets a real dog for his birthday. This canine that everyone can see "runs after squirrels in the woods," likes digging in the sand," and "is scared of Great-Grandma." Van Hertbruggen has filled his earth-and green-toned illustrations with angles and points—tall, spiky pines; sharply angled retro station wagon and carport; and small A-frame among a cluster of vacation homes—on a beach-and-dune-surrounded lake in a park where Nino and his mom have come for a summer holiday. Simple lines and patterns in indoor architecture, furniture and rugs, and exotic prints of imaginary giraffes, zebras, flamingos, and others are compelling and inviting.