Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 08/01/2019 *Starred Review* A small, curly-haired dog huddles alone under a park bench. When a young woman sits down, she is drawn to the stray, who runs away. The next day, she returns with a ball. As the two interact from a distance, the cautious dog slowly warms up, never coming too close. After the third day, as the woman walks back to her apartment, she doesn’t see the dog follow her home. A terrible thunderstorm strikes that night, and while the dog shivers in a box near her doorway, the woman hurries off to the park on a rescue mission. When she returns home dejected, she finally notices the frightened, dripping stray and takes her new friend inside. Guojing (The Only Child, 2015) presents this wordless story in clean-cut panels interspersed with full-bleed spreads. Evocative pencil-and-watercolor images use a soft color palette—sepia tones in daylight, grays and blues at night—to emphasize the warmth developing between the woman and dog. The dramatic, elegantly designed illustrations bring an astounding power to an otherwise simple story, capturing nuanced emotion through movement, posture, and color. Brimming with golden-hued love, this is a book that successfully appeals to our most basic human sentiment, perfect for anyone who appreciates Guojing’s accomplished visual style as well as for dog-lovers of all ages. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2019 Gr 1–4—Guojing's wordless picture book follow-up to The Only Child is a story of patience and building trust in new relationships. A small, stray dog lives under a park bench and is visited by a young woman who repeatedly tries to connect with the pup, eventually using the element of play and the lure of playing ball. After one day of ball, without the woman knowing, the dog follows her home and that night a storm eventually brings the two permanently together. On the surface this is a simple story, but Guojing's artistic techniques draw readers in to each quiet, tender, fearful moment and allows them to understand the trauma that comes from living in insecurity. Using pencil and watercolor, her emotive use of light shows the sense of loneliness and isolation that happens in the shadows. Pages move from panels to full spreads that offer pacing and pauses to match the ebbs and flows of the building relationship. Just like the young woman gives the dog the space it needs, Guojing gives readers moments to stop and feel the emotion. VERDICT This beautifully illustrated book will appeal to a wide range of ages, can spark conversations around houselessness and insecurity, or just be enjoyed as a tale of a dog finding a "forever home."—Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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