How you are treated does not define you. Lou, a fire hydrant located across the street from a doggy day care in a diverse neighborhood, feels like their life is limited to one thing: being a place for dogs to relieve themselves. Lou knows they're serving a valuable (albeit wet) purpose but longs for more: "Deep down inside, I feel like there's more in me than what they can see. Like I'm full of greatness! I just don't know what it is or how to let it out." When a cat living in the apartment above the doggy day care sets off a chain of events that leads to a small kitchen fire, Lou finally understands what their ultimate purpose in life is: helping others. It's hard to identify that one element that turns a great book into a truly exceptional read, but whatever it is, this has it. Is it the spare text that slowly sets up some delightfully witty lines? Is it the bold artwork that emphasizes Lou's expressive googly eyes and silly little mouth? Is it a few well-placed potty jokes? Whatever it may be, children, librarians, educators, and caregivers will love returning to this book over and over. Librarians and educators will find this in frequent rotation in storytimes; they'll also love the message and the hat tip to the importance of municipal plumbing. Double win! (This book was reviewed digitally.) Gee whiz, this book is No. 1! (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Lou is a red fire hydrant, though you may not have noticed, what with the steady stream of dogs peeing on him all the time. Even he hasn't noticed! Lou can only watch in exasperation as one pup after another sniffs, twirls, twists, and lifts a leg to . . . "well, you know." But Lou knows that he has hidden potential deep down--literally: readers get a belowground glimpse of the teeming water main connected to his base. It's not until a firefighter rushes up with a (dalmatian's) sniff, (water valve) twirl, (hose attachment) twist, and (hose) lift, rescuing the nearby Doggy Day Care from flames, that Lou learns he is more than just a loo. Carzoo's hilarious debut marries a clever conceit with irresistible character design (an object with big eyes and a little mouth) to charm readers and impart a nice story of self-discovery. Sharp cut-paper collage brings Lou's street to life, with a variety of pups in amusing poses and bright colors set off by white backdrops. Great fun, sure to make a splash at story time.

"My name is Lou, and I'm... a toilet," announces the red, goggle-eyed fire hydrant protagonist of this debut work. Cut-paper art shows a long queue of pooches, their owners portrayed with various abilities and skin tones, eying Lou. (One orange and white dog stands on crossed hind legs and holds its crotch in a pose that should be instantly familiar to any kid who's ever had the gotta-go wriggles.) "All day, every day," Lou says, these dogs "SNIFF and TWIST and TWIRL and LIFT," resulting in "well, you know"--a spread devoted entirely to a bright yellow pee stream shows it crossing the book's gutter and hitting the ground with an impressive visual splash. Understandably, Lou hopes that finding a use in life will mean something more, a wish that's granted when a fire breaks out in a nearby building. A firefighter, led by a keen-nosed dalmatian, hooks up a hose to Lou and sends forth a torrent of water to save the building: "WHOA! WHOOSH! WOO HOO!" Carzoo uses direct, heartfelt prose and toylike images to infuse a quotidian object with winning personality and genuine poignancy--it won't be a stretch for readers to identify with this small, put-upon character who discovers a bigger sense of purpose. Ages 4--8. Agent: Adria Goetz, Martin Literary. (June)