“Freedom!”

From Remy Lai’s Pawcasso.

When the lonely and bored Jo sees a dog walking down the street by himself and carrying a basket in his mouth, she is intrigued and decides to follow the dog. Then when the dog heads to the market square and into several stores, Jo is surprised to see the shop owners knowingly pull a shopping list and money for the items out of the dog’s basket. Jo follows the dog into his last stop—a bookstore—but when the summer art class kids see Jo and the dog, they beg Jo to bring him next week so they can sketch him… even though Jo tries to explain that he isn’t her dog. After completing his shopping, the dog runs home faster than Jo can follow, so she’s left waiting to see if he’ll show up the next week. When the walks by again the next week, Jo is excited to see him, except that he’s recently rolled in smelly poop, which she knows the store owners won’t appreciate. Jo gets the dog cleaned up, then helps him get to the market square where the art class kids see him, and Jo soon finds herself repeatedly and unsuccessfully trying to explain that the dog she lovingly calls Pawcasso isn’t her dog. As Pawcasso’s fame grows, Jo is stuck between telling the truth or enjoying the friends the dog has brought into her life.

This graphic novel offers a sweet, relatable story that will easily draw in dog and animal lovers. Lai’s animation is bright and fun which only adds to this unexpected story of an interesting dog. Not just fluff, Pawcasso also touches on some important topics that makes this book a must-read.