Ivan the Terrier - Hardcover

Catalanotto, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1416912479 ISBN 13: 9781416912477

Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 2007

Synopsis

Ivan loves a good story.

Like that one about the three bears or those three gruff billy goats.

Where else can a dog find such

playmates

action

fun...

or a cookie?

Ivan's own good story lands him just where he loves to be.

In your lap.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Catalanotto has written seventeen books for children, including Monkey & Robot, More of Monkey & Robot, The Newbies, Question Boy Meets Little Miss Know-It-All, Ivan the Terrier, Matthew A.B.C., and Emily’s Art, of which School Library Journal said in a starred review, “whether viewed from afar or up close, this creative and heartfelt book is a masterpiece.” In 2008, First Lady Laura Bush commissioned Peter to illustrate the White House holiday brochure. He currently teaches the first children’s book writing course offered by both Columbia University and Pratt Institute. Peter has illustrated more than thirty books for other writers including George Ella Lyon, Cynthia Rylant, Mary Pope Osborne, Joanne Ryder, Robert Burleigh, and Megan McDonald. 

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1—A high-spirited terrier creates mayhem in the fairy-tale world as an unseen narrator tries to tell a series of bedtime stories. "Once upon a time there were three billy goats named Gruff," the narrator begins, but stops short when Ivan bursts onto the scene with an enthusiastic "Arf! Arf! Arf!" After chasing away the goats, he moves on to disrupt the lives of the three bears, the three little pigs, and the gingerbread boy. The noisy pup sneaks into each story, refusing to calm down despite the narrator's increasingly strident admonitions. At last, the storyteller gives up and in one final effort intones, "There once was a little dog named Ivan." But the terrier wanders away to fall asleep in his doggie bed, probably worn out from all of his mischief. The watercolor and gouache paintings add to the humor of this imaginative story, which is presented in large, readable type. Serene, light-filled pictures of the storybook figures with the approaching terrier in the background are followed by scenes of pandemonium in which the excitable pup joyously barks with all his might as the other characters flee. The startled reactions of the fairy-tale denizens and Ivan's expressive countenance will make readers chuckle and chortle with delight.—Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA
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Ivan the terrier's brown-and-white face fills up the front cover, but, inside, the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff is being told by an unseen narrator. The art shows three goats gamboling in green fields, but then Ivan appears in the frame. The reader interrupts the text: Hey, where did that dog come from? Is that Ivan? . . . Ivan! . . . You're ruining the story! So the reader starts a different story, The Three Bears, and into the two-page spread jumps Ivan. There's only one joke here, but Catalanotto milks every bit of humor from it in the watercolor-and-gouache artwork that mixes the soft-edged fairy-tale world with a heady realism in the form of the overactive canine, who winds up eating the gingerbread boy. In the end, the narrator gives up fairy tales and starts a story about a dog named Ivan. We see only Ivan's hind end, though, as he has moved out of view to catch a nap. It can be delightful when worlds collide. Cooper, Ilene

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1416912479
• ISBN 13: 9781416912477
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Catalanotto Peter
• Number of pages: 32