HARRY'S DOG

by Barbara Ann Porte ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 1984

Laconic Harry, of Harry 's Visit (1983), is ""the owner of a dog."" His father, he well knows, is allergic to dogs. ""Anyone who's ever seen my father in the same room as a dog would have had to notice that."" The impasse is not a novel one--but the voice has personality, presence, promise (as well as easy-reader ease). When Harry's sneezing father insists he take the dog back, Harry launches into first one, then another wild-and-woolly tale of why he can't. (The dog came out of a spaceship--which took off when Harry said get-off-my-father's-lawn. The dog belonged to some hold-up men--who took off at the sound of a police siren.) ""The truth, so help me?"" A neighbor, moving away, presented the dog to Harry. But more than one solution is in sight: Aunt Rose, who lives just two blocks away, will keep the dog for him to take care of--and Harry, hearing his father wanted and could never have a dog, buys him a pet goldfish. Wry and humorous, yes, but with a tender undertone. The Abolafia cartoons are also more than genial, or expedient. To the words, ""I am almost at Aunt Rose's. I think about my father and how he never had a dog,"" we see Harry turning to look at his departing father's slightly bent back, slightly shuffling gait. Very nice indeed.

Pub Date: April 9, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Greenwillow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: CHILDREN'S