Review by New York Times Review
I HAD TROUBLE sitting down to write this review of three funny and appealing picture books about dogs because my cat refused to get off the keyboard. Even now she sits too close for comfort, flicking her tail resentfully across the screen. As a child I learned all sorts of things from picture books. I learned about family and friendship, losing a tooth, moving house, and of course, about cats and dogs. I learned that dogs are slobbery but loyal and can rescue children trapped in wells, and that if you somehow become separated from them they will cross thousands of miles on bleeding paws to reach you. Cats are prim, selfish and full of disdain, but soft to pet. Cats are clever, dogs are goofy. Cats eat mice. Dogs eat bones. Oh, and cats are girls and dogs are boys. Even when they're not. "Mrs. Poodle admired her new puppies," begins "Gaston," written by Kelly DiPucchio. "Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La and Gaston. Would you like to see them again?" Yes, I would, and so will readers, surely, because they are adorable. Christian Robinson's seductive illustrations are painted in acrylic with a striking palette, visible brush strokes and retro details. The mostly white dogs have expressive features using minimal marks. Of the four puppies, Gaston stands out. Unlike his dainty teacup-size sisters, he keeps growing. As their mother teaches them how to be good poodles, "to sip. Never slobber! ... To yip. Never yap!" Gaston works hard to overcome his boisterous urges and is praised for his efforts. When spring arrives, proud Mrs. Poodle takes her puppies to the park, where they encounter another family: Mrs. Bulldog, with her own puppies, Rocky, Ricky, Bruno and ... Antoinette. Both families realize there's been a mix-up and the odd ones out switch places. Once back home, however, neither pup quite fits in with the new siblings. They look alike, but they feel different. The next morning everyone is eager to return to the park to trade back. The dogs all become friends and the dainty poodles learn how to be tough from the burly bulldogs, and in turn teach the bulldogs how to be tender. And in the end, years later, Gaston and Antoinette fall in love and teach their own endearingly mismatched puppies to be "whatever they wanted to be." As an adult, I'm mildly confused by the lessons to be learned from "Gaston." The book seems to be about belonging, and about love outweighing differences. And yet it's also about assimilation, about the power of nurture over nature. If you go looking for them, there are also gender and class stereotypes at issue. (I suspect the decision to set the period as midcentury was more than just an aesthetic one.) I don't think children will have any such reservations, though. The only thing they may scratch their collective heads over - as I did - was why, on the title spread, Mrs. Poodle is being wheeled in a pram by a human doctor while Mrs. Bulldog looks out from a cardboard box. Is this the scene of the puppy switch? Are the two mothers giving birth in separate but unequal, breed-assigned beds in a human hospital? Am I overthinking this? I LAUGHED SEVERAL times and tried not to overthink David Ezra Stein's "I'm My Own Dog." The dog in question is proudly independent. Nobody owns him, he tells us. He owns himself. "I work like a dog all day. When I get home, I fetch my own slippers. I curl up at my own feet. Sometimes, if I'm not comfortable, I tell myself to roll over. And I do." It's a good life, or so he seems bent on convincing himself, except for one itchy spot in the middle of his back that he just can't reach. One day he lets a man scratch it, and "the little guy" follows him home. Our dog feels sorry for him, and in a sweet and funny role reversal, he keeps the man as a pet, getting a leash that he uses to lead him around, teaching him the stick-throwing game, and in the process becoming his best friend. It's not all wonderful; there are compromises here as in any relationship, but ultimately it's an ode to the transformative joy of companionship. The illustrations appear hastily drawn, but in a final note Stein describes a rather complicated process involving "a kids' marker hacked to dispense India ink," a photocopier and liquid watercolor. THE BRIGHT, CARTOONY, colored-pencil drawings in Chris Gall's "Dog vs. Cat" are stuffed full of visual jokes. Dog and Cat do not get along but are forced to share a bedroom, and the next 20 pages are given over to odd-couple gags as the two assert their personalities and revel in antagonism. It's an incoming freshman's dorm room nightmare: Dog's side of the room is an unruly jumble of unwashed socks, empty cans, sporting paraphernalia and chewed bones, swilling around an enormous, hideous blue recliner. Cat's side is meticulously organized with identical black suits on hangers and neatly arranged grooming products. You just know his books are alphabetized. Cat and Dog try to approach the situation maturely, but before long they're at war. There are disgusting details involving hairballs and a litter box, which will please kids no end. A barricade is built, a truce is achieved and Cat and Dog actually begin to miss each other. Cat sends Dog a peace offering, a handwritten letter folded into a paper plane and sent over the barricade, and Dog's balled-up response comes flying back. (Which pretty much describes the respective letters from summer camp I just received from my daughter and son. My daughter enclosed a drawing. My son enclosed two used Q-Tips.) A final twist involves the arrival of a baby who throws their room into chaos. Dog and Cat bond over the common enemy, working together to build a suitably elaborate new house outdoors. The entire time I've been writing this, my cat has been glaring at me and now, as I reach to pet her, she stalks off indignantly. I'm thinking of getting a dog. SOPHIE BLACKALL is the author and illustrator, most recently, of "The Baby Tree."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [September 7, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
When Mr. Button brings home a dog, and Mrs. Button brings home a cat, the two very different pets have to learn to share a room together. In a cute spin on a dorm-room situation, the two greet each other cordially, but soon their idiosyncrasies begin to grate on each other. Cat has no interest in chasing tails. Dog is not a fan of Cat's indoor bathroom habits. And what's up with Dog sniffing everything and Cat clawing everything? Gall has a field day with his comic colored-pencil art, offering so much to laugh at that it's hard to keep up: Dog's frat-house sloppiness, Cat's rack of identical jackets, Dog's iBone device, and more. After a phase of sabotage (Cat hacking hairballs into Dog's bowl, etc.), the two rejoin forces when a third character arrives, louder and stinkier than either of them: a baby. This final plot swerve feels a touch extraneous, but that doesn't take away from the giggly joy anyone will get from these odd bedfellows. A second round would be welcome.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a story brimming with sight gags, Gall (Awesome Dawson) mines a Cat and Dog's odd-couple arrangement for laughs. The reluctant roommates meet when their human caretaker, Mr. Button, visits "the animal shelter to pick out a friendly-looking dog" on the same day Mrs. Button purchases a "smart-looking cat." Like mismatched co-eds, the animals partition their shared space with dotted lines. Laidback, sports-loving Dog messily occupies a corner strewn with slices of pizza, while tidy, straight-laced Cat organizes a science lab and bookshelf with military precision. Their rivalry allows for pranks involving litter boxes, hairballs, high-pitched whistles, and catnip. At last they achieve detente, only to be startled by "a strange howling" that emanates from "the most terrifying creature [they] had ever seen"-a human baby. Gall's detailed colored pencil cartoons and the pets' snarky hand-lettered remarks provide punch lines for the deliberately understated text. Dog and Cat's interactions have a decidedly human bent, and their vexed situation will speak equally to young siblings and college freshmen. Ages 3-6. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Starting with illustrations on the endpapers, readers know immediately that they are in for a treat with this picture book. On the same day, Mr. Buttons returns home with a "friendly-looking dog," while Mrs. Buttons find the perfect "smart-looking cat." Clearly, these newcomers are not going to get along, and each one sets out to make the other leave ("Dog rubbed some party balloons on the rug and stuck them to cat. Cat popped them with sharp claws, nearly giving Dog a heart attack. Cat filled Dog's water bowl with hairballs. Dog poured the water over Cat's head during naptime."). The exaggerated traits of both animals are wonderful. Small details, such as the dogs at the animal shelter holding signs saying "I'll be your best friend" and "I want to lick you!" are a hilarious contrast to the cats in the pet store window with signs such as, "And you are?" and "I'm kind of a big deal." The colored-pencil illustrations are remarkable, and the animals' dialogue, expressions, and body language are priceless, as is the funny conclusion. A terrific addition to any friendship or pet storytime.-Brooke Rasche, La Crosse Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2014. 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
Anyone who has ever shared space will recognize the dilemma that develops when Mr. Button brings home a dog the same day that Mrs. Button brings home a cat, and they put them in the same room. The pets try to get along, but they're just too different: for example, "Dog was always sniffing everything" and "Cat would claw anything that moved." "The litter box issue" sends everyone's good intentions by the wayside. Text and pictures are layered with humor, and the bold colored-pencil and digitally colored art heightens the odd-couple drama with every page turn, culminating in a giant wall of stuff built to completely separate the two. Walled-off Cat and Dog start to miss each other, but as soon as they begin to make amends, they must join forces to escape yet another new roommate. The text describes a terrible creature, but the pictures give away the joke that a new baby has arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Button occasionally appear in the illustrations, but only from the neck down to keep the story within the realm of the animals. Endpapers feature black-and-white illustrated snapshots of Dog and Cat, inviting readers to imagine more scenes from their life together. julie roach (c) Copyright 2014. 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
Traditional adversaries are (eventually) united by a common enemy.In the beginning, Dog and Cat are friends. Selected separately by Mr. and Mrs. Button, they make the best of being forced to share a room. Soon enough, though, differing interests, styles and behaviors lead them to sabotage each other in the hope of becoming an only pet. Full-page pictures, double-page spreads and smaller vignettes, all created with colored pencil and enhanced with a Wacom drawing tablet, reveal the extremely anthropomorphic lives of these entertaining animals. Brown, blocky Dog has a recliner, a bed, lots of sports equipment and plenty of snacks. Sleek black Cat, by contrast, has sharp suits, lots of books and what appears to be a chemistry set. Some details, like the finned car that carries Dog home and the black-and-white photos that cover the endpapers, have a retro vibe that suits the text's deadpan humor. Dog and Cat, meanwhile, manage to convey emotions clearly with just the quirk of an eyebrow or a sideways glare. What drives these two sibling stand-ins to bury the hatchet won't surprise many readers, but their solution suits the overall silliness to a T and will likely lead at least some listeners to long for their own special place.The stylish illustrations and sly wit on display here will please Gall's fans and likely win him new ones. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
