City Dog, Country Dog: Adapted from an Aesop Fable - Hardcover

Crummel, Susan Stevens

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761451560 ISBN 13: 9780761451563

Publisher: Two Lions, 2004

Synopsis

Vincent van Dog and Henri T. LaPooch are two very different dogs. When Henri visits Vincent in the country, he finds it a little too slow for his taste. And when Vincent travels to the city to visit Henri, the noise and bustle overwhelm him. It looks as if their friendship is doomed--until the two agree to meet somewhere neutral – at the beach! This bright, humorous book is a thoroughly original spin on the Aesop's fable, “The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse.”

About this title

About the Author:

SUSAN STEVENS CRUMMEL had some firsthand experience before writing Ten-Gallon Bart. As a high school teacher in Texas, one of her extra-curricular duties was sponsoring the rodeo club. Little did she know she’d have to ride a steer in the sponsor’s rodeo. "As I clung to the beast’s gigantic horns, I decided that the following year, I’d go back to coaching the math team!" she said. Susan also likes to tell stories about her great-great uncle Harvey Doyle, an expert rider and trick roper in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in the early 1900s. Besides collaborating with Dorothy Donohue on three other picture books, she has collaborated with her sister, Janet Stevens, on The Great Fuzz Frenzy, And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon, Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!, and Jackalope.

DOROTHY DONOHUE says that her dog Bart inspired Ten-Gallon Bart and Ten-Gallon Bart and the Wild West Show. Besides the books she’s done with Susan Stevens Crummel, she has also illustrated If Frogs Made Weather by Marion Bane Bauer and Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe by Susan Patron. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband James, their two children, and their two dogs.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4–Vincent van Dog and Henri LaPooch meet at art school and, despite their different backgrounds and temperaments, they become fast friends. Vincent is tall and quiet; Henri is short and noisy. Vincent paints flowers; Henri paints dancers. On the last day of school, they promise to write. Vincent invites Henri to come to the country for a picnic. He prepares a rustic meal of fresh vegetables, but Henri finds country life boring and returns home. He invites his friend to paint the town red. Vincent dislikes the fancy food and the noise. When the dogs are thrown out of the Moulin Rouge, Vincent returns home. Again, the pups correspond and decide to meet at the beach, where they have a marvelous time. Unlike the original fable, these two friends compromise to find something that they both can enjoy. The moral here is: "Vive la différence!" French words in the text are defined with pronunciation at the bottom of each respective page. The large paper-cut illustrations are filled with texture, bright colors, and humor. Artworks done in the style of van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec are incorporated into the pictures. A lively and fun take on Aesop's beloved tale.–Linda Staskus, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH
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About this edition

• Publisher: Two Lions
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0761451560
• ISBN 13: 9780761451563
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Donohue Dorothy