A cute, fun frolic for tail-wagging fans.
In this debut compilation of humorous conversations and colorful photographs, three adorable dogs say the darnedest things.
What canine lover hasn’t imagined what a dog would say if it could speak? Leswick, a photographer and family man, has always talked to his dogs. But after a smart but mischievous Brittany spaniel pup named Eva joined his family, he felt like he could read her mind. So, over time, he began sharing their conversations on the internet. When Eva was 2 years old, Bruno—a happy-go-lucky golden retriever—joined the family chats. Most recently, Agnes, a rescue pup of unknown lineage, came along to liven things up even more. Deciding that he needed to put his dogs’ adorable photos—and antics—in book form, the author assembled this fun-filled, browsable collection. Cuter than the cutest Facebook memes—Bruno wears underwear on his head because he’s a Jedi, and Agnes looks sweet even when she’s caught ripping a toy to shreds—Leswick’s canine photos are accompanied by “dogversations” he or other family members have had with the pups. There are no chapters in this slender beauty, but relatively short conversations have titles—for example, in “Laundry,” the author finds Eva lounging on the humans’ clean clothes. Easy to read and comprehend (names are followed by colons to denote who’s speaking), these simple exchanges are squeaky clean and appropriate for the entire family. Lighthearted human-animal misunderstandings take center stage in several of the animals’ pithy quips. For example, in “The Great Flip-Flop Debate,” Bruno says the humans’ rubber sandals are meant to be chewed because flip-flop is a yummy-sounding name. Sometimes the situations are seasonal; for example, the dogs sing Christmas carols, and on Halloween, Bruno dresses like a ghost. But the family’s favorite season seems to be summer, and there are some lively scenes of the pooches in action at the lake.
A cute, fun frolic for tail-wagging fans.Pub Date: March 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5255-5157-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
It's high spirited reading.
When Françoise Gilot, an aspiring young painter, met Pablo Picasso in May, 1943, she was twenty-one years old, he some forty years her senior.
As they grew together, setting about their mutual campaigns upon each other, she proved herself a worthy adversary rather than acolyte. In the ten years which she shared with him, undertaking to assuage his solitude, bearing him two children, meeting his friend and admirers, she maintained a cool comprehension along with her compassion for Picasso the man that shows to delightful advantage here. For Françoise Gilot has the capacity to reveal the man in his intimate and professional dealings, and Picasso is superlative, inimitable copy. Witness Picasso dangling his agents, foremost among them Kahnweller, fancing with his friends Braque and Matisse, playing cat and mouse with the women in his life -- wife Olga, Marie Therese Walter, Dora Marr, Françoise and her successor Jacqueline Roque. But the author has the capacity as well to show Picasso the artist: she quotes him on painting, describes his method of work in painting, sculpture, pottery. Picasso himself is so articulate that he defies other description; au fond, art and the artist are subversive. His re-marks on art include not only his own but that of his foremost colleagues, Matisse and Braque, Miro, Legor, Chagall...All his encounters here are formed by his own formidable temperament, and recalled in satisfying detail by the woman who shared them. An intimate, vivid, above all intelligent and authentic portrait of Picasso, with its twin elements of love and art, this should sell like mad. And rightly.
It's high spirited reading.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781681373195
Page Count: 384
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1964
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
A sumptuous, nostalgic ode to a disappearing landscape
An oversized album compiled in response to the recent omission by the Oxford Junior Dictionary of many natural-science words, including several common European bird, plant, and animal species, in favor of more current technological terms.
In his introduction, Macfarlane laments this loss, announcing his intention to create “a spellbook for conjuring back these lost words.” Each lost word is afforded three double-page spreads. First, the letters of each lost word are sprinkled randomly among other letters and an impressionistic sketch in a visual puzzle. This is followed by an acrostic poem or riddle describing essential qualities of the object, accompanied by a close-up view. A two-page spread depicting the object in context follows. Morris’ strong, dynamic watercolors are a pleasure to look at, accurate in every detail, vibrant and full of life. The book is beautifully produced and executed, but anyone looking for definitions of the “lost words” will be disappointed. The acrostic poems are subjective, sophisticated impressions of the birds and animals depicted, redolent with alliteration and wordplay, perhaps more appropriate for creative writing prompts than for science exploration. This book is firmly rooted in the English countryside, celebrating such words as “conker,” “bramble,” and “starling” (invasive in North America), but many will cross over for North American readers. A free “Explorer’s Guide” is available online.
A sumptuous, nostalgic ode to a disappearing landscape . (Picture book/poetry. 10-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4870-0538-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Anansi Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
