Dream Dog - Hardcover

Berger, Lou

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375866558 ISBN 13: 9780375866555

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade, 2014

Synopsis

Written by a ten-time Emmy Award winner and former head writer for Sesame Street, here's a story that will resonate with every dog-loving child out there. Harry wants wants wants a dog, and, instead of getting one, his parents try to placate him with a pet that's decidedly less interesting—a lizard. So Harry takes matters into his own hands and places his X-35 Infra-Rocket Imagination Helmet on his head, and soon something—with paws! a tail! a wet nose!—pops into the world. Sure, nobody else can see the dog named Waffle, but that doesn't matter to Harry. But what happens when a real dog comes into his life? Catrow's signature loose drawings and Berger's humorous text bring the bond between a boy and his dog exuberantly to life.

About this title

About the Author

LOU BERGER was the Head Writer of Sesame Street for eleven years. He has received ten Emmy Awards for writing, as well as a playwriting grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His children’s book, The Elephant Wish was called “a stunning lesson in the power of wishes and memory” by Kirkus Reviews in a starred review. Mr. Berger is also one of the creators of the PBS series Between The Lions, was one of the first writers of Reading Rainbow, and wrote the teleplay and lyrics for Sesame Street Stays Up Late!, a primetime New Year’s special. He lives in Forest Hills, New York.
DAVID CATROW has illustrated more than seventy books for children, including the bestselling Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz; the New York Times bestseller I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont; Jackhammer Sam by Peter Mandel; Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell; and his own Max Spaniel series. He also created the visual development for the animated feature Horton Hears a Who! Mr. Catrow lives in Ohio. Learn more at catrow.com.

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 2—Having a severely allergic father means that Harry's dreams of owning a dog are going nowhere, so he snaps on his X-35 Infra-Rocket Imagination Helmet and produces a furry imaginary friend he names Waffle. The pair is inseparable and, like most imaginary friends, is accepted by the adults and regarded skeptically by playmates. When his dad changes jobs, moving from a pepper factory to one that makes Ping-Pong balls, his allergies disappear, and he buys Harry a live dog, Bumper, as a birthday surprise. When the real dog can't see the imaginary pooch, Harry places him under the helmet for a few minutes and the three friends happily cavort out the door. At the end of their play and the book, the dream dog leaps up into the sky and out of the story while Harry bonds with his new pet. Catrow's signature loose-limbed, full-color gouache, pencil-and-ink art sprawls across the pages with detailed exaggeration. The story includes threads about Harry's father's jobs, the boy's first lizard pet, his friend Mathilda, and many adventures with his dream dog. The length of this tale, the fairly complex plot, and text that meanders leisurely suggests a school-age audience. However, Harry looks and often acts like a preschooler, which could make determining the right audience for the book difficult. Still, libraries looking for stories to help ease older children away from imaginary friends may want to consider this title.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI

Edition details

• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0375866558
• ISBN 13: 9780375866555
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Catrow David J.