Space Dog Squadron

Three little space dogs. One missing Hydrant of Power. A cat with a cape and a very bad idea.

Shadow is the captain — brave, serious, and absolutely certain that if everyone just followed the rules, things would go fine. Penny is the clever one, with a plan for everything and a pack full of emergency biscuits (every emergency, it turns out, is a hungry one). And Kirby, the youngest, wears a pink spacesuit and presses every button she can reach — usually the wrong one, usually at the worst possible moment.

They have not, technically, passed their training. In fact they've just failed it so badly the simulator asked them to stop.

Then the alarm goes off.

The Hydrant of Power — the golden, glowing, planet-shaping treasure that keeps the whole universe peaceful — has been stolen. Its four guardians are missing. Every other squadron is already gone. And the thief is Commander Mittens: a fluffy grey cat in a cape who has decided that dogs have had enough planets, and it's time for scratching-post towers, rivers of cream, and catnip everywhere.

So three untrained puppies are the universe's last hope. Their orders come from Commander Zoey, a wise old Rat Terrier who is not thrilled about this either. Their destination is the Litter Box, a purple fortress under a green moon, guarded by an army of cats, tuna-perfume fountains, and a market full of steak that Penny is definitely not going to stop for.

What follows is a rescue mission that goes wrong in every way a rescue mission can — a bell that shouldn't have been rung, a prisoner who won't stop singing, a mountain of yarn, and a villain nobody was watching. It's a story about three small dogs who are not ready, who mess up constantly, and who are still exactly the right team — because a team is stronger than one, and because someone has to remember the tennis ball.

Space Dog Squadron is a rhyming picture book in five acts, told in bouncy read-aloud verse with a joke on nearly every page and a big heart under all of it. It ends on a cliffhanger, because Shadow, Penny and Kirby are only getting started.

For anyone who has ever been the youngest, the hungriest, or the one who pressed the button.