I’ve tried to read The Longest Letsgoboy, a 2021 picture book by Derick Wilder (illustrated by Catia Chien) several times.
I have always failed, and only finished it now because it is due back at the library.
This book is about a beloved but aged family dog, who is creaking and often tired with age.
It plays like a puppy sometimes, for a while, with “Little,” the name for the child in the family, but goes back to a “slowstep” of age. They have adventures. They sit together and look at the sun. And then the dog dies. And passes to a realm where it can run free like a pup again. And knows Little is his “foreverfriend.”
And I’m almost crying again, because my aged pup passed on me, at 16. And it still hurts.
The images are soft and fuzzy, like those seen by old, blurry eyes. The invented language suggests a dog’s voice (and sometimes irritates). But mainly, this is a book about loving a dog and coming to terms with its passing.
