Gr. 1^-2. A little boy playing outdoors tries his best to make a dog go away, but the friendly pooch gradually wins him over. Emergent readers, who may feel the same way about dogs as the little boy does, will love seeing how the dog lures the boy into playing ("I don't want that stick. Don't give it to me. If I throw the stick, will you go away?"). Nodset (aka Joan Lexau) packs a lot of story into remarkably few words, with only one or two sentences per page. The reissued story is accompanied by engaging, full-color illustrations showing an African American boy and a Heinz 57 dog with a constantly wagging tail. Susan Dove Lempke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.