Books like Muddypaws

Muddypaws, written by Moria Butterfield and illustrated by Simon Mendez, is a story about a little boy who gets a new puppy. Ben knows he needs to give the new puppy a name, but he has no idea what to call it. He figures he will take the puppy on different adventures to see if he can come up with a name. However, no matter where Ben and the puppy end up, the puppy always ends up getting into mud or dirt leaving him with muddy paw prints. Ben eventually picks up on this and decides to name him Muddypaws.I really love the illustrations that Moria Butterfield did in this story. It is amazing to me how real Ben and the puppy look the whole time. The fact that Ben is a blonde hair, blue eyed boy makes me think that she wants the readers to be able to connect with him because most people know somebody that looks like that. The puppy seems to be a Golden Retriever, which I think is perfect because that seems to be a very common dog in the US just like the looks of Ben. I think the realistic nature of this books makes kids be able to picture it easier. I think the tone of this story fits in perfectly with how it is written. I would say the tone of Muddypaws is playful. This seems to fit so well because little boys are always playful as well as little puppies. Although the puppy was causing a mess everywhere he went, it never seemed like there was any distress in the story. Ben's facial expressions always seem to be curious or happy looking showing that this is suppose to be a very lighthearted book that most children will like because it is a relationship between a young boy and his puppy.