The Pet Store Window

The Pet Store Window is a sweet story about a stray dog getting his fondest wish - a home and unconditional love. What more does a dog want?

His journey to happiness takes time, even though he stays in one place - the one dog that doesn’t get adopted because he was too ordinary. The dog, a hedgehog and a mouse are the sole occupants of a pet store in a decrepit part of town. They look out the window of the store and are cared for during the daylight hours by Ana, but they are alone and lonely at night.

Ana proves to be their salvation when the store is sold. She and her grandmother can’t afford to take the pets, but they do anyway. The dog is the main focus of the plot, but the hedgehog and the mouse are along for the ride.

Now, all five of them watch life pass by outside the window of the house.

Until things get better, it’s good to be together.

Mexico City writer Jairo Buitrago (Jimmy the Greatest!, Walk with Me) has written a universal story of love. It’s beautifully illustrated with brightly coloured digital drawings by Rafael Yockteng of Bogota, Columbia. Elisa Amado (My Friend, A Kite for the Day of the Dead), born in Guatemala and now living in Toronto, has created a loving translation. The illustrations have a verisimilitude of realism but with a slightly cartoony feel. Ana squints one eye shut as she polishes the store window with a cloth; she stretches with fatigue after she brings the pets home. The dog imagines himself playing all day and night with Ana, if only he were hers.

Ana’s visit to the owner’s house is a highly effective and humorous segment of the story. It shows that, even in difficult situations or tragedies, there is levity. Yockteng draws the bored owner of the store standing at his door of his house, martini in hand, barely tolerating Ana’s presence while a party is in full swing behind him. He doesn’t care about the pets. Buitrago teaches children a hard truth: there are people who don’t care what happens to others. Seemingly offering his opinion, the dog is seen peeing on the man’s lawn. Finally, the dog proves to be special in his own way. Who could resist that tummy?

The Pet Store Window will charm young readers who will love the story as well as the pictures of the sad-sack pooch holding a ‘Sale’ sign or the scene of the dog, slobbering kisses in happiness all over the grandmother’s face. It’s a good book for reading aloud or for early readers, and for a teacher to use in a classroom unit promoting kindness and selflessness.