Billie and Bean in the City

Billie and Bean in the City is a delightful story about a bored, young girl taking her dog for a walk around the neighborhood. Billie is supposed to be taking care of Bean, the black dog, while the mother is doing laundry in the nearby laundromat. But who takes care of who?

Billie is alone in the house with her pet dog. For 15 minutes, Billie entertains herself with reading books and staring at the clock while Bean sleeps in various positions. Then Bean brings Billie the leash, and this request is understood by Billie. She puts on her jacket and shoes, secure in the knowledge that she’s taken Bean for a walk outside before – with her mother watching on. This time, however, mother is not watching on. Billie keeps Bean on a leash when walking past the ice cream store, and Bean is admired by ice cream customers. She panics when Bean eats a flower in front of the florist’s shop, but the florist gives her a flower and calls her dog cute. Still confident, she tries to lead Bean past the park, but Bean insists on going in. Still responsible, she picks up after the dog and then gets the idea of picking more flowers to make a bouquet for her mother. As she walks around and picks flowers, Bean wanders, sniffs, chases and runs.

The problem starts when Billie realizes at the park entrance that she doesn’t recognize where she is and, therefore, cannot lead Bean home. For readers, a bird’s-eye view of the park and surrounding neighborhood makes it obvious where the two are, but Billie only has her own ground view and doesn’t recognize the way home. She sits against a building in the shadows and despairs that her mother will be all alone. Then Bean sniffs and pulls on the leash, leading the way home. Now Bean is taking care of Billie!

Back at home, Mom hugs the relieved girl and delighted dog. She compliments Billie for taking good care of Bean, not realizing that they took care of each other.

The text is simple and easy to understand for the target audience. There are no big vocabulary words or literary devices used that would require wrestling for understanding. This makes it a good text for those just learning to read – grades 1 and 2 – to read for themselves. The simplicity of the text tells the story in a straightforward way, but it is the illustrations that make the story interesting and captivating. The author is also the illustrator, and the story is moved forward by rich images and colour.

Hansson changes perspectives in the illustrations in order to support the reader’s understanding of what is going on, though Billie doesn’t know what’s going on. At times, she zooms out in order to give a larger view of the neighborhood like on the flyleaf before the title page and like the bird’s-eye view that highlights Billie’s dilemma. The latter shows the park in relation to Billie’s house and shows the reader that Billie is near to her house even if she doesn’t know it. Most of the time, however, Hansson zooms in and stays with Billie’s perspective. This illustration approach helps the reader feel the confidence, joy and anxiety felt by Billie as the story progresses. The colours are bright and cheerful when Billie is enjoying herself and then turn dark and shadowy when she is lost and despairing. The colours turn bright and colourful again when Bean saves the day by leading Billie home. It is the illustrations that enrich Billie and Bean in the City and leave readers wanting to see more of this pair.