Thirteen-plus years after I started on We Match! (illustrated by Sharon Glick and coming this July 15 from Astra Young Readers), my new picture book’s first review is finally here.

And it’s a good one. I love the Publishers Weekly reviewer’s analysis of what Sharon Glick and I and the team at Astra strove to achieve in this book.

“Distinctly doggie-inflected dialogue by Barton (Glitter Everywhere!) and boisterous, comics-style ink and watercolor illustrations by Glick (Perros! Perros!/Dogs! Dogs!) launch forays into connection,” the reviewer writes.

This is my favorite part:

“Excellent fodder for charting and diagramming exercises, it’s also a funny and pointed object lesson about learning new tricks when it comes to seeking common ground.”

We Match! is available for preordering today. And if you think that’s best done through a local bookseller, hey — we match!