Esmé Shapiro

I received this book as part of the LibraryThing EarlyReviewer program. On my first read as an adult I wasn't excited about it, but then read it with my 8 year old who was delighted and really liked how silly it was. I like the details in the rich illustrations and suspect there will be something new to discover every time you look at the book. The plot is a kid thinks one of their neighbors is secretly a dog, and they set out to prove it to their friend who doesn't believe them. It worked as a mystery book while also leaving clues to other mysteries for the reader to notice on their own.… (more)

Roy Is Not A Dog is a wacky, imaginative story about a young paperboy named Weasel who knows something about all the residents along the street except for the person in the last house with the name Roy on the door. Weasel suspects that Roy may be a dog, and explains to his friend PamPam why he thinks so. She dismisses his reasoning, so he decides to conduct some experiments to prove it, but Roy still denies it. Just then, PamPam walks by with her cat and chaos ensues!

This entertaining book has wonderful, colourful illustrations, and encourages young detectives to take another look, and notice other clues they may have missed on first reading. It encourages children to think for themselves and accept others with all of their differences and quirks, and to see that there is always something new and interesting to learn about others. Highly recommended!… (more)

There are no better dogs than wiener dogs, and the dogs featured in Roy Is Not A Dog are quite cute! The idea is fun, that people are not always what they seem, but in a good way. The illustrations of the flowers remind me of Mary Delany, the fabulous 18thC collage artist. On that note, and thinking about the name Pam Pam, I am still wondering about whether there are other secret codes buried here to please the adults that might read the book aloud to little ones. Weasel...Old Man Earl...hmmmm....… (more)