Book Review: Winnie and Waldorf by Kati Hites

Winnie delights in playing such games and pursuing such activities with her favorite bulldog as:

• donning extreme weather boots, coats, and hats to enjoy raindrops irrigating the garden;
• fishing;
• going for rides in swivel chairs;
• hunkering down with green frogs;
• interacting with pigeons;
• painting portraits;
• reading;
• sharing bath times;
• singing duets;
• smelling potted flowering plants;  
• sorting garbage; and 
• wearing costumes and make-up for dramatic representations before an audience of none.

She experiences great joy in being able to see to Waldorf’s food and water bowls. She feels that she is the more responsible of the two since they switch sleeping places when he falls asleep on her bed. The two friends nevertheless get each other into trouble. 

Sara has a sign posted on her bedroom door to keep Waldorf and Winnie out. She is not unfriendly, merely cautious about such cherished possessions as:

• china hippopotamus and unicorn;
• glass of treats;
• music scores;
• photographs; and
• violin.

But Waldorf joins Winnie in invading Sara’s bedroom. 

The two friends know no limits in disrespecting another’s privacy by:

• emptying clothing drawers and mixing previously matched socks to play at hand puppetry;
• going through Sara’s desk to use music and school papers for drawing; and
• leaving paint and paw prints on the beautiful hardwood floor.

They lose all caution in playing at hide-and-seek and overnight-camping with Sara’s bedding. In the process, Waldorf manages to get a violin string broken. 

Damage and disrespect nudge Sara into emotional realms counterproductive to imminent performances. Sara nevertheless opts to go on with the show after her mother repairs the violin. But the sight of Waldorf and Winnie provokes temporary stage fright until the clumsy bulldog makes a mad dash for his favorite cupcakes.

Everyone questions how Sara will react until the violinist belly-laughs, dominates nervousness, and plays perfectly. Sara and her family resolve afterward to respect Waldorf’s role as a family member by rewarding him with both cupcake and doggie treats. So Kati’s story about Winnie and Waldorf shows pre-schoolers to third-graders aged 4 to 8 years and beyond the give-and-take in loving relationships between animals and their domesticated families. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

"Winnie & Waldorf" features a bulldog, a popular canine with an endearing wrinkled face and pushed-in nose that captivate children.
male English bulldog puppy: brykmantra, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:English_Bulldog_puppy.jpg

In Kati Hites' debut picture book, Waldorf the bulldog falls asleep wherever is convenient: on Winnie's bed, on the floor, on the sofa, under a table.
"English bulldog sleep": Aobranc, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:English_Bulldog_about_to_sleep.jpg

Winnie's and Waldorf's misadventures include a broken string on older sister Sara's violin, which, fortunately, was not a Stradivarius.
ca. 1687 Spanish Stradivarius II on exhibit at Palacio Real de Madrid, Calle de Bailén, Madrid historic center: Håkan Svensson (Xauxa), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PalacioReal_Stradivarius1.jpg

Waldorf the bulldog not only relishes doggie treats but also finds cupcakes completely irresistible.
strawberry cupcakes: tannaz (tannazie), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/tannazie/1199576555/

Bulldogs such as Waldorf in Kati Hites' debut picture book are favorite canine friends for children, who receive adoring looks from the winsome breed's earnest eyes.
Peaches at 10 weeks, Alamo Square, San Francisco, Northern California: Vivian Chen [陳培雯], CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/vivarin/4576505135/

Hites, Kati, 2015. Winnie and Waldorf. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children's Books.