Welcome to the Woofmore

K-Gr 3–VIP (Very Important Pooch) Greta Garbark is a special guest seeking peace and quiet at the opening of the fancy Woofmore Hotel. Tiny Ms. Coco, the owner, puts our concierge, Rufus, (very large, of indeterminate breed) to the task. Quick-thinking and hoping to please, he arranges for the fur of the famous Golden Retriever to be dyed purple, and is able to protect her anonymity…until a flea infestation threatens the hotel’s reputation. Thankfully, the appreciative Greta comes up with the perfect, purple remedy. Gephart is a reader’s writer. Her use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and punny wordplay transform the work-a-day plot into a bouncy romp. Poor Rufus has a “nervous tooting” problem that young readers will enjoy, and the canine characters possess a lot of the same habits as the pups in our own homes. Illustrator Cleland adeptly creates bright, loose, retro illustrations on each page. Though only the great-grandparents of the reading audience will have any knowledge of Greta Garbo as the punny basis for the dog character, that choice may let the series enjoy a longer life than had Gephart chosen a more contemporary model.