A girl builds and programs a robot dog in this heartwarming STEM-based picture book perfect for fans of THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING. Grace can’t have a real dog, so she takes matters into her own hands. She builds a robot dog named Kit! Grace codes him to behave like the perfect dog. Kit follows her instructions perfectly. He rolls over perfectly, every time. He plays fetch perfectly, every single time. But Grace soon discovers that maybe following the rules perfectly doesn’t make the perfect pet . . . Great for aspiring builders and coders, GRACE BUILDS AN ALMOST-PERFECT DOG is a tender tale about the power of friendship and determination. A Junior Library Guild Selection "Grace’s solution-oriented attitude, determination, and grit will inspire other coders and dreamers, and the happy ending will please dog-lovers." -- Booklist "A good addition to libraries needing books about coding that are accessible for both younger and middle grade readers." -- School Library Journal Curtis Manley's picture books include Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku , The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures , Shawn Loves Sharks , The Crane Girl , and Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet , which won a Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. He has written code to discover how quickly lava flows cool on Earth and other planets (hint: not quickly at all!), and other code to test email software. Curtis lives near Seattle with his wife, daughter, and cat.