'Hello, I'm the best,' says Dog before proving that he wins in every way. Only he doesn't in the end, because his friends, Mole, Donkey, Goose and Ladybird realise that they can win too. Dog's problem is that he only compares his abilities with the others when he knows he can do better. Hence, he can swim better than Donkey and is bigger than Ladybird. But his friends soon discover that Goose is better at swimming than Dog, and Mole is better at digging holes. A bit of a bombast is our Dog, but he gets his comeuppance in the end, and his friends admit that he is the best at being their best friend and the best at having 'beautiful fluffy ears'. The illustrations are wonderfully anarchic, as to be expected with Cousins - lots of splashy colour and black lines, splotches on the pages as though a child has dropped paint, and the end papers are straight off a nursery school easel. Great stuff!