Painter and Ugly are best friends. They run together, they swim together, they eat out of the same dinner bowls. When one calls out, "Yip," the other answers back. They are inseparable! That is, until they are forced apart and put on two different teams for the junior Iditarod. But nothing can keep them apart. When during the race Painter finds a boy musher alone, stranded on the trail, he calls out, "Yip!" and Ugly answers his call. These old friends team up to finish the race, together again, side by side. Robert Blake brings us back to the Iditarod in this exciting and heartwarming story of racing and friendship. Gr 1-4-Blake presents a story of canine friendship on the Junior Iditarod Trail. Painter and Ugly are sled dogs living with their boy, Jake, on the Yukon River. They are an inseparable pair, playing together, eating out of the same bowl, and insisting on sleeping next to one another. They are also the fastest of the local racing dogs, and that leads to them being split up eventually and placed on different teams as the lead dogs. It's a lonely life for them, and they miss one another. However, during the 80-mile race, the dogs find a way to be together and to lead their teams to victory. Blake's glorious paintings, done in oil on canvas, are slightly impressionistic but do an effective job of reinforcing the action and changing moods of this satisfying story.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Blake�s attention to painterly detail matches his storytelling skills in this tale of canine friendship. From the boxy sled-dog houses where pals Painter and Ugly live when not running races to the explosions of snow spraying upward as the dogs sprint, readers will sense the authenticity of his effort as well as vicariously feel the chill of icy, blue-tinged Alaskan expanses. Painter and Ugly, two lively sled-dog-team members, are inseparable when they belong to a boy named Jake: If Ugly howled at the moon, Painter sang harmony. When the dogs are sold to different owners (in an unexplained move readers see through the dogs� eyes), they inevitably suffer. A reunion during the Junior Iditarod is joyous, as the dogs recognize each other�s yips and use their intelligence to bring their sled teams together as racing companions. This will hold appeal for those fascinated by the forty-ninth state�s customs as well as dog lovers in general. Grades K-3. --Karen Cruze Robert J. Blake was born and raised in New Jersey. As a boy he made "tons of drawings" and used up thousands of crayons. He says, "I even did a huge crayon mural on our hallway that was not artistically appreciated by my parents." Sharing one large room with two older brothers was "total chaos," he recalls. "We had lots of animals - dogs, ducks, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, lizards, turtles, snakes, birds, fish, and even two flying squirrels. And, oh yes, a tarantula. I think my parents were afraid to come up to our room." Mr. Blake now resides in New Jersey with his wife and son. He works in his studio, a renovated barn on his property. Mr. Blake says, "I would like to paint in every state in the United States and in every country in the world." "I hope my books lend the reader a feeling, and emotion, a new point of view, a new way to look at something that they might not have experienced otherwise." Robert J. Blake was born and raised in New Jersey. As a boy he made "tons of drawings" and used up thousands of crayons. He says, "I even did a huge crayon mural on our hallway that was not artistically appreciated by my parents." Sharing one large room with two older brothers was "total chaos," he recalls. "We had lots of animals - dogs, ducks, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, lizards, turtles, snakes, birds, fish, and even two flying squirrels. And, oh yes, a tarantula. I think my parents were afraid to come up to our room." Mr. Blake now resides in New Jersey with his wife and son. He works in his studio, a renovated barn on his property. Mr. Blake says, "I would like to paint in every state in the United States and in every country in the world." "I hope my books lend the reader a feeling, and emotion, a new point of view, a new way to look at something that they might not have experienced otherwise."