THE HAPPY DOG

by Hideyuki Tanaka ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 1983

Three wordless episodes--two of them quite beguiling--in the life of a buoyant little-girl dog. (A girl, slyly, because of a barrette and a purse.) In the first, she beans herself with a ball and a bat, then whacks the ball into a clean sheet drying on the line; her various efforts to remove the spot--by spitting on her paws, by lathering up the whole sheet--leave sheet and dog both filthy. The second is a perfect match-up of form and content. The little dog sets off jauntily on a rainy day, with umbrella and boots; loses her boots in the mud, and washes them off in a puddle; sets the umbrella sailing in the puddle; emerges dripping, carrying umbrella and boots; and then, putting them under a tree, shakes herself, dog-like--at which point (after toweling herself with a hanky), she sets off again with umbrella and boots. The last is a hilarious demonstration of what you can do with ""A Big Balloon""--blow it up and, sweating, let out the air to cool yourself; blow it up and let it shoot into the sky; climb up a tree to fetch it and, Pooh-like, float down. (When the balloon finally does burst, the dog is only momentarily nonplussed.) The small watercolor sketches imbue the dog with sundry joyful or woeful expressions, and her responses are child-right when they're not perfectly doggy.

Pub Date: April 21, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1983

Categories: CHILDREN'S