An adorable, finicky, black-and-white mutt romps through the pages of this lowest-level easy reader. Sam the dog watches eagerly as his owners set out cakes, cookies, and pies for a party. But each time Sam approaches the food table, he's shooed away: "Not for puppies!" Then Sam's presented with traditional dog food, but he turns up his snout, preferring to go hungry . . . until a pizza arrives and he finds his perfect puppy chow. Winsome pastel illustrations combine with a few large-type sentences per page in an attractive, uncluttered layout. The basic, repetitive text is filled with action, noise, and enough suspense and silliness to engage new readers, and large images of big-eyed, sly Sam will help maintain interest. A fine entry in the Kids Can Read series. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved