As any parent or carer will know, a baby on the move can create a massive amount of disorder in a very small amount of time. Add a lively young dog into the mix and chaos is pretty much guaranteed.

All starts well in this wordless story with an apparently sleepy Baby being kissed goodnight by Mum as he is laid down in his cot. But things quickly start to go wrong when Mum leaves.

Then Baby’s eyes spring open and not long after he’s out of his cot and off in search of an adventure.

First up is the bathroom. There are plenty of tempting toys to play with there, from a duck and boat, to a ball and shark.

Luckily Baby is too small to turn on the taps, though one senses he would like to as we see a visual thought bubble showing him imagining his boat sailing on a large expanse of water.

With the bathroom exploration complete, Baby heads to the living room, where Dog (so-named in the blurb) is sleeping peacefully. Not for long, though, as a gentle pat soon has him awake and joining in the fun.

Unfortunately Baby and Dog’s first game involves crawling under the coffee table, on top of which is balanced a vase of flowers. The inevitable happens, with the vase tipping over and flowers and water scattering across the floor.

Next a surprise encounter with a jack-in-a-box causes more mayhem, after which Baby and Dog head to the kitchen, where they find shopping bags of delicious smelling food and Baby’s beaker of milk.

Dog jumps up in excitement, the bags get knocked over, the shopping tips out and Baby’s beaker falls to the ground, spilling all his precious milk.

A rather shamefaced Dog and a disappointed Baby take a long look at each other as if to say ‘What now?’ There’s really only one answer – Mum’s bedroom.

When they arrive Mum is still dozing. But before long Baby is cuddled happily under her arm while Dog snoozes on the rug beside them.

Calm reigns once more. But pity poor Mum when she finally awakes and discovers the havoc all around!

The visual narrative in this charming book is clear and straightforward, though the colour is modest as, in addition to the basic black-and-white line, there is only blue and yellow. Most young children are likely to find this story funny and will probably particularly enjoy spotting the little clown toy that Baby takes everywhere with him.

Marilyn MacGregor is an art historian and teacher who has illustrated a number of children’s books. She has also completed a series of sketches and paintings from around her home town of Philadelphia and from her travels to New York, Paris and London.