Bella's Rules by Elissa Haden Guest (review)

Bella likes to push the envelope when it comes to family rules and after a particularly raucous evening with a sitter ("I never sleep, Sammy. Ever"), Bella's parents lay down the law and call Granny, who brings Bella a puppy. While Bella and Puppy become fast friends, Bella soon learns what it's like to be on the receiving end of rule-breaking, as Puppy knocks her down and steals her cupcake or plays tug-of-war with her beloved Teddy. Bella works with Puppy on some new rules (including "No chewing on Teddy") and Puppy becomes a more reliable pal—although puppy and girl still like to break the rules once in a while. The puppy tactic is, to put it mildly, a surprising child-rearing technique, but it apparently works for Bella's family. Guest's succinct narrative relies on pleasing patterns of threes (Bella's and Puppy's actions are presented in threes, and their behavior is often described as "Too wild. Too rude. Too risky") to cozily stitch the story together. Halpin's watercolor and colored pencil art balances full-page scenes with spot art sequences, the tones in both slightly muted springy pastels that give the book a sunny freshness. Bubbly brunette Bella is an appropriately lively figure, but it's plump-tummied Puppy, with his floppy brown ears and cute brown eyespot, who will captivate kids (they'll especially enjoy the illustration of Puppy breaking the "No peeing indoors" rule). Read this as a precursor to a family rules-creating session, or share it as part of a puppy-themed storytime.