Review Detail

THE WELCOME HOME is a sweet and silly picture book about the search for the perfect pet. Mr. and Ms. Gargleson-Bittle are missing something. They would like to have something soft, waggy, and a bit lick-your-face and play-catch, so they get a snail. The snail is great, but they still want something else, so they get an elephant. They continue adding to their house with all sorts of animals, until a new one shows up on their doorstep. They aren't sure what it is (dog), but it completes their family and leaves them perfectly content.

What I loved: The illustrations are soft and lovely with a sketch-like appearance and so much detail throughout. It captures the joy and wild feeling of so many animals in one house. Animal lovers will love this idea of a whole menagerie of pets, and the story gives them names to add to the fun. Young readers will understand from the start that what the Gargleson-Bittles are actually looking for is a dog, and so it becomes a silly game as they find all sorts of animals that sort of match the qualities of a dog in one way or another. For instance, the elephant is sort of waggy with its trunk. This also encourages children to consider how animals that seem vastly different may have some similarities and to think creatively.

The font is clear and easy to read throughout. The length of the story and of the text on some pages will lend itself best to elementary school aged readers, who will also understand the jokes around the search for a dog and then not knowing what it is when it shows up at the end. The story also has a nice loop, since they started out by eating waffles and then named the dog waffles.

Final verdict: THE WELCOME HOME is a charming and silly picture book about the search for the perfect pet and the joy of animals.