Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2022 This inviting book for beginning readers features four stories about two good friends. Rose, a pig, lives next door to Billy, a goat. On a warm, sunny day, they tackle chores they’ve been avoiding: Billy practices the cello, while Rose washes clothes. In the fall, during a game of catch that ends in utter failure, each blames the other, but when they try encouraging each other, one of them actually catches the ball. On a bleak, snowy day, Rose and Billy open an ice-cream stand and eventually find customers: each other. And in spring, after arguing about where to hold a sleepover, they come to a reasonable compromise. The narrative magic relies less on plot twists than on the characters’ sometimes prickly but ultimately rock-solid relationship and the details that Hest includes in her storytelling. Denton’s artwork, created with watercolors and ink, reflects the tone of the writing while creating nearly human-looking, dressed-animal characters in a series of expressive, captivating illustrations. An enjoyable choice for kids learning to read or as a read-aloud for younger children. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.