This schools edition of Bobo’s Dream by Martha Alexander is a slim paperback, yet it packs an emotional punch.

At its heart is the story of a mutual friendship between a boy and a dog, both of whom care deeply for each other.

Bobo is a little ‘sausage dog’ or dachshund. At the beginning of the story he is enjoying a juicy bone that the boy, who is not given a name, has just bought for him at a butcher’s shop.

The images are full-bleed with plenty of white space and the use of colour is minimal, just shades of tan and red on black-and-white drawings. Yet the body movements of each main character are entirely believable and their facial expressions portray a wide range of emotions, from distress and gratitude to determination and a sense of pride in achievement.

The friends are lying side-by-side in companionable silence, relaxing under a tree in the park, while Bobo gnaws his bone and the boy reads his picturebook. (Incidentally, the book he is reading is Maybe a Monster, another title by Martha Alexander; Charles Keeping made a similar visual joke in his wordless book Inter-City.)

Until, that is, a larger dog comes up to Bobo and steals his bone…

In defence of his companion, the boy chases after the big dog and retrieves Bobo’s bone, and in return Bobo gives the boy a grateful lick. They return to their spot under the tree and Bobo drops off to sleep, dreaming of his boy going to play ball with friends.

Bobo’s dream is shown in thought bubbles and a line of mini bubbles clearly connects it to him.

All is well until the boy kicks the ball and hits an adult on the head. He and another adult, who are with the big dog, take the ball and begin to tease the children.

In his dream, Bobo sees the boy calling out to him for help. Suddenly Bobo imagines himself a big dog. This pivotal image is shown high across the spread with the dog racing from left to right, head high and teeth bared.

Bobo chases after the thieving adults and gives them a fierce frown, reminiscent of Paddington Bear’s ‘hard stare’, and they return the boy’s ball instantly.

Bobo imagines himself the hero of the day!

Eventually Bobo wakes up. Behind him the original big dog is creeeping up to steal his bone again, but this time Bobo has the courage to fend him off by barking at him furiously. The dog slinks away and the boy and Bobo head home with the bone firmly in Bobo’s mouth. Meanwhile the big dog looks hungrily on, licking his lips in envy.

The emotional closeness between the boy and Bobo is depicted in a number of ways. In the plot, with the buying of the bone, the shared concentration in their separate activities and in their mutual protection of each other. And in the artwork itself, through the friends’ physical proximity and the mirroring of their movements, such as standing up together at the butcher’s counter and walking in step.

Martha Alexander (1920-2006) was an American illustrator and author, who published her first book in the late 1960s. She studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and is known for her soft and humorous pencil and watercolour illustrations. Her Blackboard Bear series is particurlarly well known.