When a young white girl's beloved dog, Lily, dies, she misses her terribly. She thinks about all the daily activities where Lily is missing. Lily isn't on the rug next to the girl's bed when she wakes up in the morning, and she's not next to her chair at breakfast, waiting for some food to fall on the floor. When the postal carrier comes, there's no barking -"The mail just drops through the slot and falls." While there have been many picture books about a child facing the death of a pet, what makes this one distinctive is the child's realistic observations of changes in the ordinary daily routine. There's sadness, but the book's focus is the quieter emotion of an ongoing absence (rather than the tears and harsh grief at the time of the loss), as well as the fact that there's no new puppy at the end -because often times there isn't. The understated art, created with hand-cut stencils and gouachef, is a good match for the emotional tone of the book. (Ages 3-6)