Ada's Pal - Hardcover

Lyon, George Ella

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531095282 ISBN 13: 9780531095287

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1996

Synopsis

A small dog suffers from a broken heart when her dog companion dies until a veterinarian advises the family that there is only one thing to do

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3?A moving tale about dogs' true best friends: other dogs. Ada is a "black mop-without-a-handle," and joined the family when the narrator was just a toddler. Then came Troublesome, "...your big knock-the-mail-carrier-down dog." By the time the narrator is a sturdy, school-aged girl, Troublesome dies. Ada's mourning is so deep that she's grudgingly coaxed from it not by human love, but by the companionship of a new puppy. Vivid, poetic language is paired with realistic colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations. Though the text directs readers' attention to canine relationships, the pictures develop the supporting theme as well; it's obvious how deeply the girl cares about her dogs. The illustrations are full of energy, conveying motion and change. Dynamic composition helps to develop characters and reinforce the emotional impact of the story. Ada's Pal joins the company of Judith Viorst's Tenth Good Thing about Barney (Atheneum, 1971) as a sensitive treatment of grieving, though with a somewhat different focus. It far surpasses the label of "bibliotherapy" to achieve enduring immediacy. Young children will relish meeting Ada at story time and independent readers will cherish her as well.?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Lyon (A Day at Damp Camp, 1996, etc.) piles detail upon detail about friendship, first between the first-person narrator, a girl, and Ada, ``a black mop-without-a-handle'' dog; then between Ada and Troublesome, a big, yellow ``knock-the-mail-carrier-down'' dog; and finally between Ada and Pal, the ``golden pup'' from the shelter. The upshot is that ``a dog's best friend is a dog.'' Much is sensitively said about intraspecies relationships, but it is the caring narrator who knows the cure for Ada's mysterious sickness when Troublesome dies. In her first picture book, Casparian's soft-edged, lifelike illustrations make the most of the impressionistic narrative's approach, sometimes offering separate panels on a single page to represent a series of phrases, sometimes showing motion by using duplications of the dogs romping over a spread. It's a lively approach, but occasionally disrupts the smooth flow of text and draws attention to its own adult sophistication. Young readers who have loved and lost dogs may be more interested in the original thought, particularly in early readings. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0531095282
• ISBN 13: 9780531095287
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Casparian Marguerite