PUCCINI AND THE PROWLERS Adele Wiseman Illustrated by Kim LaFave Madeira Park (B.C.), Harbour Publishing, 1992. 32pp, laminated boards, $14.95 ISBN 0-88971-154-2. CIP. Junior Kindergarten to Grade 2/Ages 4 to 7 Reviewed by Norma Charles. Volume 21 Number 3 1993 May Puccini is a new pup who works hard (o live up to the reputation his boy has given him: he is a great watchdog who protects his yard from prowlers. Puccini barks all day to protect his yard from cats, birds, mailmen, milkmen and so on, thinking they all must be prowlers. In fact, he would protect his yard from any unfriendly intruder if only he was sure what a prowler looked like. However, if a stranger were friendly and kind and offered him a tasty snack, he would nut bark at him at all, as happens one morning when all the clothes mysteriously disappear from the clothesline. Puccini's family is puzzled that their usually yappy pup didn't warn them about that real prowler. But they decide that they love their affectionate pup anyway. After all, as the father says, "he makes a noise like a watchdog which is enough to fool all honest people away." This simple story, written by the late Adele Wiseman, author of many adult works, demonstrates that she had a keen ear for a straightforward tale to entertain (he younger reader. She is an author whose many talents will be sorely missed by the writing commu­nity. Illustrator Kim LaFave is at it again creating another beguiling and whimsical character to add to his many others, includ­ing his award-winning Amos from Janet Lunn's Amos’s Sweater (Groundwood Books/ Douglas & Mclntyre, 1988). In Puccini and the Prowlers, his use of pale greens and yellows in the illustrations of your local friendly neighbourhood and comical neighbours gives the book a pleasant, light feeling. An attractive, sunny picture-book that will leave young readers and listeners with a cheerful smile. Norma Charles is a teacher-librarian at the Henderson Annex School in Vancouver, British Columbia.