The Day My Dogs Became Guys

When an eclipse of the sun turns Carey's three dogs--Butch, DeeDee, and Ol Ed--into people, they cause enormous problems for Carey by continuing to behave like dogs.

Grade 1-4-Carey's three dogs are pretty ordinary: Butch chases squirrels and cars, Dee Dee will eat anything and everything she can reach, and old Ed loves taking naps. One day, during a solar eclipse, Carey returns from school to find his dogs changed into very strange people who can talk, but who still retain their canine habits and behaviors. Now, Butch can verbally carry on his anti-squirrel crusade so loudly that he annoys the neighbors, Dee Dee can open the refrigerator and help herself, and Ed-well, Ed can take a nap. Mercifully, by the time the eclipse is over, the three "terrible people" turn back into three "pretty good dogs" and Carey doesn't have to worry about his mother's reaction to them. This amusing story has gray-toned, stylized illustrations, with cylindrical forms and Drescher-like figures whose tiny boneless limbs extrude like plastic pasta from mechanical-looking bodies, and with dogs' torpedo-shaped muzzles ending in dark-green, metallic noses. The overall effect is more grotesque than comedic. Still, readers who enjoy quirky humor will appreciate it, as will dog owners who may have occasionally wondered what their pets would be like if they were to turn human.
Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Markoe, an Emmy Award winner for her writing on Late Night with David Letterman, makes a very droll children's book debut. Carey, the protagonist, has three loyal but aggravating canines who drool at mealtimes and bark uselessly at squirrels. "I wish they were people, so we could make them understand things once and for all," Carey tells his mother. That afternoon, a solar eclipse darkens the town, and Carey finds three unusual humans in place of his dogs?a transition that Brace (The Krazees) handily delivers with silhouettes that serve both their animal and human incarnations. Instead of the shaggy yellow mutt, Butch, there's a sloppy teenager; instead of the fat Dalmatian, Dee Dee, there's a plump, hyperactive lady in a spotted dress; and instead of the Scottish terrier, Ed, there's a balding older gentleman with a brushy black mustache and a plaid suit. After an affectionate hello, the three race for the kitchen. As Dee Dee raids the refrigerator, Ed leans out the window, yelling, "Squirrels!... Scum! Creeps! Get out of that tree now," and a muddy Butch chases a car ("It's getting away!") with Carey in hot pursuit. Markoe hilariously imagines the chaos that could arise from canine brains in human bodies. The dogs are earnest and sweet?Butch cowers at the words, "Bad boy!"?but they're also easily distracted and desperate for a snack. In his artwork, Brace uses curving shapes and extreme angles to suggest antic motion, and conveys the characters' goofiness with froggy, wide-set eyes, sprawling bodies and lolling tongues. His scenes of the trio wreaking havoc on a quiet suburban street will have children of all ages rolling on the floor. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.