Wanted: The Perfect Pet

It has come to my attention that so far I have reviewed three books and all of these books are written and illustrated by men. This is no political statement, just a kooky fact. Now as unlikely as it is that this blog will be inundated with feminists demanding that I give equal pegging to female authors, there is the slim chance that it could happen, so let me right the wrong that I have so far committed. Today I am going to review two books; they do follow on from each other and share an author. Her name is Fiona Roberton.
Wanted: The Perfect Pet is a bold red jacketed book with a picture of a  boy called Henry on the front of it. Henry looks a little bit like Bod, for those of you of a certain vintage, though without the quirky music or the odd way of walking, as this is a book and not a seventies television programme.
Henry, more than anything wants a pet. A pet dog. However he's not allowed to buy one so, he does what any self respecting child would do and puts an advert in the paper. He only gets one response and it's not from a dog. It's from a duck.
This poor duck is all alone, and it's possibly the saddest thing I have ever read. So in order for Henry to accept him, the duck disguises himself as a dog. It is beautiful. Henry is delighted when the strange dog arrives on his doorstep and they go and play. However the duck slowly loses his disguise and it jeopardises their budding friendship.
This really is a beautiful book, the illustrations are simple and all the more lovely and moving for that. In the same way that a tear on Miffy's face is the epitome of sadness, the you really do feel the despair and the elation that the duck feels through the really moving illustrations. My favourite part of the book though, is the final illustration of Spot (the duck) laying flat out on Henry's bed, it is the ideal image of boy and duck.
In the follow up book Wanted: The Perfect Present, this time with a blue jacket, it is fast approaching Henry's birthday and Henry and Spot are playing a guessing game as to what Spot has bought for his friend, these images are really sweet and show a lovely domestic relationship. On Henry's birthday his grandparents have bought Henry a puppy. This throws Henry and Spot's relationship into turmoil and when Spot is starting to feel ignored, well it launches a chain of events where we discover just what the perfect present really is.
These are two really special books examining friendship and feelings in a gentle way. I really do highly recommend them. The story's are told gently and lovingly and as I've stated already the line drawings have a complexity and depth of emotion that belies their apparent simplicity.