Black Dog by Levi Pinfold

Rather than being an embodiment of depression, the dog in Levi Pinfold's picture book, Black Dog, represents fear. Members of the Hope family see a dog outside that grows more massive with each glimpse. The youngest child -- Small Hope -- is the only one with the courage to face the beast, thereby shrinking it to normal size.

Pinfold's nostalgic tempera illustrations evoke a pre-television era, somewhat in the way of KG Campbell in Lester's Dreadful Sweaters. Pinfold's style is closer to Australian Shaun Tan's than Campbell's however. Pinfold's details -- the lovely soap dish clipped to the side of the bathtub, the Battenburg cake on a plate -- kept me lingering over each charming page. The Hope's house is just so cozy I want to visit the place! Check out Pinfold's work on his website here.

Black Dog is a great book to share with preschoolers... and fearful people of any age.

p.s. The wintery scene on the cover is appropriate to Edmonton's weather today; it's snowing here.