The Four Hoods and Great Dog - Hardcover

Schaeffer, Susan Fromberg; Nodell, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312014317 ISBN 13: 9780312014315

Publisher: St Martins Press, 1988

Synopsis

A move to the country introduces Steven and June Hood to the kitten Foudini and the largest dog anybody has ever seen, two talking animals who are preparing a return visit to the world from which they originally came and decide to take the children with them.When the Hood family moves from Brooklyn to the country, young Steven and June find a puppy that grows to enormous heights, and a kitten, both of whom can talk and who lead the children to magical other worlds

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 - 8 This novel is a hodgepodge of ideas and events, lacking structure, cohesiveness, and a sense of direction. The Browns (mother, father, June, and Steven) find a puppy behind some peeling wallpaper in their new home, and he quickly grows as big as the house itself. He is joined by a small cat name Foudini, and the adventures begin. Great Dog does things such as carry the children's school bus across the river in his mouth, or crash through three floors of their new house while learning to somersault. Things take a stranger turn when Great Dog takes Steven back through a crack in the horizon to visit his home on the ``other side''a land where giant dogs inhabit floating cities which occasionally collide in midair. Some time later, Foudini takes June to ``cat country'' on the other side of a wall of solid airthis time a land of islands inhabited by cat families who write in cuneiform on clay tablets and live in fear of ancient Egyptian spirit cats. Norman Bridwell's ``Clifford the Big Red Dog'' (Scholastic) comes to mind often during the first part of the story, but what is funny in a picture book is harder to accept in a full-length novel. Inconsistencies aboundthe children seem very young, but Steven is 14 and June even older. The adventures on the other side read like rough outlines for science fiction stories. The section in which the children teach the animals to read is the most original, entertaining, and well-written, but there is far too much to plow through before it comes. Susan L. Rogers, Plymouth Friends Meeting School, Pa.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

When the Hood family (so named for their hooded winter parkas) moves to the country, they expect to get pets. But the petsGreat Dog, who grows up taller than the weathervane on their house, and the small cat Foudiniwreak havoc on the household. June and Steven, the children, learn that Great Dog and Foudini are from different universes, sent to the Hoods' for safekeeping. Foudini's ego and his penchant for writing on Mr. Hood's typewriter, as well as Great Dog's size, are constant sources of trouble, but with June and Steven's help, the animals are able to defeat their enemies back home. Calling to mind Daniel Pinkwater's Lizard Music and Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages, the novel explores absurdist notions with polished and clever prose. It is a sophisticated book to puzzle over and relish, perfect for reading aloud. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0312014317
• ISBN 13: 9780312014315
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 131
• Illustrator: Nodell Norman