Spot & Dot by Henry Cole

Have you been following me from the beginning? If so, then you may remember that the third book I ever reviewed was Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole. It’s a true wordless wonder, so you can bet I was absolutely thrilled to see that Henry Cole published a sequel, Spot & Dot, in August. When I first saw buzz about this new book, I reached out to Simon to see if they’d be willing to send me a copy, and they happily obliged. Now, I’m here to tell you today that Spot & Dot is just as delightfully detailed an adventure as the original!

Henry Cole has illustrated both Spot, the Cat and Spot & Dot in immaculate pen drawings. And by immaculate, I mean truly amazing. He completes each page with such intricate detail that readers could spend significant time pouring over each page! Good luck finding the animal friends as they romp through the dog park, for example, or wander their way through the flea market!

Additionally, Cole includes so many details through his illustrations (because remember, this is a wordless book, so your journey takes place completely through the pictures) that you can tell stories of mini-vignettes while following the larger journey of Spot and Dot.

So, what is the larger story actually about? In the original, you may remember that we follow Spot on an adventure through town, after the cat escapes through an open window the apartment. We also follow the owner, a boy, as he journeys through town trying to find his cat. Spot & Dot takes readers on a different adventure, as Spot once again escapes the apartment once Dot, a dog with a similar dark spot, is spotted. Spot follows Dot around town, while the boy helps Dot’s owner, a new girl in the neighborhood, put up “Lost” posters around town.

I know many parents and teachers who don’t love reading wordless picture books with their children or students… Are you someone who needs convincing that you should check these out? Maybe instead of trying to “read” it to your children, start with simply handing them these books and seeing what happens. I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a child who doesn’t delight over the stories of these animal friends, or laugh together about the adventures they find through town (it’s hard not to enjoy seeing the chaos that ensues when a cat and dog tear through a bakery or a library, after all!).

If you enjoyed this, check out:

• Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole — You can read my Instagram review here.
• Flotsam by David Wiesner — You can read my full review here.
• The Journey trilogy by Aaron Becker

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