City Dog replies sadly, "Waiting for a friend." Then he smiles a "froggy" smile and adds, "But you'll do." It's hard to imagine a picture book that more consistently (and touchingly) hits all the right notes. When spring returns, a chipmunk comes across City Dog. In the winter, snow is everywhere, but Frog is gone. "Maybe we can play remembering games." And that's what they do, remembering jumping and splashing, sniffing and barking. Now it's his turn to teach Frog games, replete with sniffing, fetching, and barking. In the summer, City Dog returns and runs to see Frog. Frog's waiting for a friend: "But you'll do." After that the duo plays together, and Frog teaches Dog about splashing and croaking. City Dog comes to the country, thrilled to run without a leash. The understated episodes acknowledge the transitory nature of the seasons and of life itself.
Pink blossoms and red maple leaves allude to Japanese art Muth pictures Country Frog as a wise tutor who tosses a stick for his apprentice and, in a rain shower, protectively holds a leaf over the dog.
Willems's concise sentences, paired with joking illustrations in his other works, lose their hilarity-but gain significant emotional weight-when matched with Muth's watercolors. A closing chapter, "spring again," shows City Dog encountering another animal and repeating the same greeting Country Frog met him with the year before.
In wintertime, City Dog trots through the snow to find Country Frog's favorite rock unoccupied. One spring day, redolent with fresh yellow-greens and pale blues, City Dog tastes life "without a leash!" Exploring a reedy pond, he meets Country Frog, who teaches him "jumping and splashing and croaking." When summer arrives, City Dog demonstrates "sniffing and fetching and barking." Fall brings orange-gold foliage and a brown cast to Country Frog's emerald skin.
Muth (Zen Shorts) sets a limpid rural scene for Willems's (Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed) two unlikely friends in this tranquil tale of change.
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