Review by New York Times Review
ROMANTIC LOVE, platonic love, parental i love - I'd hate to live without any of them.! But dog love took me by surprise a year ago, when it arrived relatively late in life s with Marco, my first dog. So, like many be- í fore me, I became a seeker-outer of dog books. Dog picture books, especially, which are easy to enjoy with or without a child. (If Î you doubt that, please watch the YouTube ( video of Betty White reading "Harry the ¡ Dirty Dog," which has over five million i views.) All animals have lessons for us, but none have as much to show fledgling hu- | mans - and some of us older ones - about finding and losing, playing and working, caring and staying true. And the creators of . dog picture books deliver those while blatantly dialing up the emotions - who can forget the scene in "Madeline's Rescue" where Genevieve gives birth toll puppies? In that grand tradition, these five new books are the pick of the litter. CORI DOERRFELD'S WONDERFUL "The Rabbit Listened" used a stuffed bunny to offer a gentle tutorial in the magic of staying quiet and letting children express what's bothering them, and now in GOOD DOG (HarperCollins, 40 pp., $17.99; ages 3 to 6) She tells a more playful but equally satisfying tale of a stray dog who finds his person in the form of a little girl who has lost her stuffed bear. Each page has just two words, one of them "dog" - "hungry dog," "hopeful dog," "brave dog" - while Doerrfeld's soft, pleasingly round illustrations make clear what's happening. Non-dog owners, beware the page where she turns to her parents and says, "My dog?" ANOTHER KIND of who-rescued-whom Story IS FOUND. (Simon & Schuster, 40 pp., $17.99; ages 3 to 8), by Jeff Newman and Larry Day, a sweet narrative that unfolds through pictures alone, with words appearing only in signs and objects in the background. We see a sad girl looking out the window, and a brown dog wandering in the rain. She takes him up the stairs of her rowhouse. He settles in, and she feeds him from a dog bowl labeled "Prudence"; she's less sure about letting him play with Prudence's ball. On a jaunt to the pet store to buy a new ball, she spots a poster: Someone's looking for the dog she found. She gathers herself and returns him to his rightful owners. On the walk home, a sad bulldog peers out a shelter window, and on the last page we glimpse that dog scampering out of view in her house. The story is so tightly constructed there's almost no room for interpretation, and I like that. The vigorous pen-and-ink art leaves a lot of white space on the page, with just occasional washes of color, adding to a sense that the book is a straightforward puzzle you're solving with visual clues, like the colors of the balls that belong to each dog. Of course, there's an overarching fantasy element - the girl appears to live with no parents and no adult figures intrude on her decision-making. But isn't that one of the best things dogs can give kids, a sense of their own power? THE DELIGHTFUL COMICS-STYLE GOOD ROSIE! (Candlewick, 40 pp., $16.99; ages 4 to 8), written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Harry Bliss, stars a little white and brown terrier named Rosie. She has a pleasant daily routine with her owner, George, but she doesn't have any dog friends, so she's lonely. (You suspect George, a fussily dressed older gentleman with a balding dome of a head, may be lonely too.) One day, George takes Rosie to the dog park, where a St. Bernard named Maurice tries to befriend her. Rosie feels he's too big and loud. Then an irritatingly "small, yippy" dog named Fifi arrives. Again, no. Rosie is lonely even at the dog park. But a mishap occurs: Maurice almost swallows tiny Fifi. After Rosie delivers a strategic bite on the leg, Maurice coughs Fifi back up. She is fine, though her collar now says "Fif." Is friendship possible after all that? You bet! The newly renamed Fif leads the way, asking Rosie directly, "Do you want to be friends with a dog named Fif?" The final page shows a grinning George looking on as the dog friends play - and he's flanked by two ladies who must be the owners of Fif and Maurice. DiCamillo, whose many books include the Newbery Medal-winning "The Tale of Despereaux," packs an emotional punch in picture books, chapter books or novels, and Bliss is a wry New Yorker cartoonist and the author-illustrator of the sophisticated picture books "Grace for Gus" and "Luke on the Loose." Together they've created a remarkable guide to making friends: Be honest and direct about what you want, and don't bite. "Good Rosie!" is divided into eight sections, like mini-chapters, slowing down the pace and making it not just a good read-aloud but a fantastic choice for newly independent readers. MARLA FRAZEE'S LITTLE BROWN (Beach Lane, 32 pp., $17.99; ages 4 to 8), a parable about a dog with no friends who hoards all the toys at the dog park, is an unusual dog book in that it's frankly dark, beginning with the muddy colors and foreboding look of its tall pages. Frazee, the creator of "Boss Baby" and many other brilliantly funny and pointed picture books, is not so much offering a lesson as challenging her audience to do better, be more just and kind, figure out how everyone can get a fair share. The dog named Little Brown begins the book "cranky" and alienated, and at the end he's still cranky and alienated, only he's sitting atop a pile of treasure. Two questions linger: Is he lonely because he's greedy, or is he greedy because he's lonely? And how can we fix a situation like this, where a tyrant calls the shots? "Maybe tomorrow they would know what to do," the book ends. In 2018 America it's hard to take that as hopeful, but I'm trying. IF THE STATE of the world or anything else is putting you in need of a good cry, I recommend Laura Vaccaro Seeger's blue (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 32 pp., $17.99; ages 3 to 8). It's another book that uses only two words on each page. This time the phrases all include the word blue - "chilly blue," "true blue" - the better to show off Seeger's thick, brushy art and die-cut holes, which are reminiscent of her Caldecott Honor-winning "Green." Seeger walks you through the life span of a good dog belonging to a little boy who grows to be a man just as the dog passes into the great beyond. (It's a tip of the hat, perhaps, to the folk song "Old Blue.") The ending made both me and my husband cry. Our 8-yearold son seemed unmoved, but that may be because his first dog is still young. Still, his reaction tugged at my heart, making me realize that some day, he'll come back to the book with sadder, wiser eyes. Tempus fugit, but especially, it seems, when you love a dog. MARIA RUSSO is the children's books editor at the Book Review.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 11, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
Short, episodic chapters and a gentle plotline make this winsome graphic novel particularly well suited to early readers. George and Rosie, a brown-and-white terrier, have a pretty solid routine of breakfast, a walk, and looking at clouds, but Rosie is lonely. George, a balding, bespectacled gentleman with a cane and a long coat, eventually catches on and takes Rosie to the dog park. But new dogs are scary to shy Rosie, and it takes some time before she finally warms up to the other pups at the park. Bliss' naturalistic, amiable cartoons appear on wide, open panels, and close-ups of George's and the dogs' faces make characters' feelings unmistakable, which will be particularly helpful for newly independent readers. Despite the story's low page count, DiCamillo infuses a surprising amount of character development: George recognizes his pal's loneliness; Rosie gets over her shyness; and three very different dogs figure out how to be friends. With humor and heart, this easy, inviting volume offers an empowering message to little ones nervous about making new friends.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Rosie the terrier and her middle-aged owner, George, are loving companions and creatures of habit. But when Rosie sees her reflection in her empty food bowl ("The other dog never answers"), she yearns for companions of her own species. One day, George decides to visit the local dog park, and Rosie is more than a little hesitant ("Rosie does not like the dog park. There are too many dogs."). Then she meets Fifi the Chihuahua and Maurice the Saint Bernard. Though their friendship is not without initial missteps (Rosie must overcome her innate reticence, Maurice must promise that he will not try to eat Fifi-again), it changes Rosie's world. DiCamillo's deep empathy for her shy, lonely protagonist will come as no surprise, but her portrayal of Rosie as genuinely puzzled by the mechanics of friendship is particularly astute. Bliss (Diary of a Worm) works in a paneled comics format, and it proves felicitous for his formal drawing style and deadpan humor. This is no shaggy dog story-it's thoughtful and funny, and a real gift for emerging readers. Ages 5-8. Author's and illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Rosie the terrier loves her owner, George, but she feels lonely. Realizing that his pet needs to befriend other canines, George takes her to the park. But Rosie doesn't know any of these dogs, and she doesn't like Maurice, a hulking, drooly St. Bernard, or Fifi, a perky little papillon-at least not at first. Yet when an encounter between the other two dogs almost goes dreadfully wrong, Rosie steps in and discovers she might know more about friendship than she thought. Dividing the book into nine brief parts, author and illustrator allow this quiet graphic novel to unfold slowly. Though Bliss depicts idyllic, verdant parks full of smiling pups, he lets a hint of melancholy creep in as Rosie gazes longingly at dog-shaped clouds in the sky and her own reflection in her empty food dish. DiCamillo's contemplative, understated text perfectly complements Bliss's elegantly composed watercolors. Forging new bonds can be both tantalizing and overwhelming, they acknowledge, but children will feel up to the challenge after seeing Rosie conquer her anxieties. VERDICT A superb friendship story and a lovely choice for one-on-one sharing, especially with little ones with first-day-of-school jitters.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Terrier Rosie and middle-aged man George lead a measured, slightly humdrum life together, but everything changes when they trade in their morning walk for something new: a visit to the dog park. Timid Rosie is not at all sure about this turn of events, especially when Saint Bernard Maurice looms over her in an attempt to make friends, a relationship concept each only imperfectly understands. It takes the vivacious little Fifi, all ears and tail and bejeweled collar, to teach them both how to be a friend. Comic-book panels, with a mixture of easy narrative text and balloon dialogue, make the book a good choice for new readers, and Blisss crisp line-and-watercolor illustrations are lovingly attentive to real dog postures and poses (as far as Rosie and Maurice go, anyway; the anthropomorphized Fifi seems to have bounced in from a different book). DiCamillocasually, expertlydrops musings about the quirks and turns of friendship into the deceptively straightforward story. roger Sutton (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A lonely, brown-and-white terrier named Rosie learns how to stand up to a bully and how to make new friends in this understated, gently humorous story.Rosie lives with her owner, George, a middle-aged, balding man with glasses and suspenders and a rather staid lifestyle. Though Rosie loves George, she would really like to meet another dog, so on their daily walks they begin visiting a dog park. At first Rosie doesn't know how to make friends, but a tiny, bouncy dog named Fifi teaches Rosie and a blustery Saint Bernard named Maurice how it's done. Rosie's journey takes her from loneliness through fear and bravery and then on to joyous companionship with her new pals. By the conclusion, the three dogs are running and playing together, and George is chatting with two women on a park bench, making friends of his own. George is white, and two of the other dog owners are people of color. Each of the three dogs has a distinct personality, conveyed both in the succinct text and in engaging watercolor illustrations laid out in panels of different configurations as well as some full-page illustrations. Cartoonist Bliss' humor shines as it works with DiCamillo's understated text.Subtle lessons about entering a new and unfamiliar territory, finding companions, and the value of a friendly, approachable attitude are all conveyed with a delicate touch. Good Rosiegood story. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
