Truckdogs: A Novel in Four Bites - Softcover

Base, Graeme

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810987899 ISBN 13: 9780810987890

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2005

Synopsis

Two gangs of canine-like motor vehicles, the Rott Wheelers and the Mongrel Pack, have a showdown in the far-off desert town of Hubcap. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Beloved Australian author and illustrator Graeme Base of Animalia, and Eleventh Hour fame tries his hand at writing something longer--"a novel in four bites"--but with mixed results.

Set in the imaginary outback world of the TruckDog (a wild evolutionary hybrid that's either "an animal with an engine" or "a car with floppy ears and a wet nose"), Base's story starts out promisingly weird, but then promptly chases its tail in overcomplicated exposition and character development. Kids will probably take to the notion of a fuel-tanker dachshund or a drag-racer greyhound initially (they'll certainly pore over the 16 full-color plates illustrating various TruckDog "breeds"), but that attention will likely fade one-hundred pages into the convoluted and prosaic story about a town that needs to focus its bored, boisterous youth to fight off a gang of bandits.

Kids will likely love TruckDogs's rough-and-tumble descriptions, "Behind them stood a huge, snorting beast, solid muscle and steel, cruelly curved horns mounted above massive bony fenders: the TruckRam from hell." However, don't be surprised if disinterested young readers go tearing off mid-story to concoct TruckDog dramas of their own. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

Stig Wemyss is an actor, writer and the voice behind millions of children’s audio books. Well, not millions. Thousands ... Alright, more like hundreds ... He has a huge fan club. Bolinda Audio is constantly receiving letters from kids saying things like ‘Stig Rocks’ and ‘I love Stig’ and ‘Stig Wemyss is the best narrator in the world’. Of course we don’t show Stig all these letters, as he already thinks he’s the best narrator in the universe! Now that he is also the author of an exciting in-car audio entertainment series, The Tripp Diaries, he thinks he’s the best narrator and the best author in the universe. We think he is too, but let’s just keep that to ourselves!

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0810987899
• ISBN 13: 9780810987890
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160