THE STRANGE AND WONDERFUL TALE OF ROBERT McDOODLE
by Steven Bauer
The Strange And Wonderful Tale Of Robert McDoodle (32 pp.; $16.00; Sept.1; 0-689-80619-1): When he enrolls in the Jellicoe School for Dogs, soon-to-be-six Robert McDoodle is dismayed to discover that being a dog involves more than just bones and naps. In spirited rhyming text, Robert (now “Spot”) and his canine classmates trot at breakneck speed through a day filled with lessons in sniffing, panting, nipping, snapping, and more. Sneed’s comical illustrations show Robert and pals from a dog’s- eye-view, gazing longingly at a squirrel high in a tree, enthusiastically marking their territory, and lapping water from a toilet. Few children have not wished for a dog’s life, and Bauer’s ballad delivers that wish fulfilled, with all its disadvantages exposed for comic effect. (Picture book. 5-9)