Art Dog - Hardcover

Hurd, Thacher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060244240 ISBN 13: 9780060244248

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, more powerful than a locomotive -- well, that's Superman for you. But now there's Art Dog -- a new superhero on the block -- and he's fighting crime with a paintbrush and an unstoppable creative might.

Just as Superman and Batman lead quiet lives during the day as Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, Art Dog spends his days as Arthur Dog, a mild-mannered guard at the Dogopolis Museum of Art. But under the light of a full moon, he undergoes a transformation into a creative force to be reckoned with. Through a little creativity and an astounding nose for art he manages to sniff out and apprehend a band of thieves who have stolen the priceless Mona Woofa.

Highlighted with characteristically bright and bold illustrations, Thacher Hurd has created an action-packed story that offers a whimsical view of many artistic masterpieces. Littering the pages of Art Dog are canine interpretations of paintings such as Wood's American Gothic, Matisse's Dance of Life and Jazz, Vermeer's Girl with Turban, Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, da Vinci's Mona Lisa and others. Children will recognize some of the paintings and will delight in the dogs replacing their human counterparts.

Oh, no! Someone has stolen the Mona Woofa from the Dogopolis Museum of Art and the police don't even realize that they are barking up the wrong tree when they collar their number one suspect. So it's up to Art Dog, the mysterious, masked painter who roams the streets of Dogopolis, to find the missing masterpiece. Zip! Splash! Smoosh! He paints himself a Brushmobile, and he's off––on a wild and funny chase to capture the dastardly crooks. With the same deft touches of high-spirited fun and adventure that have made Mystery on the Docks and Mama Don't Allow (both Reading Rainbow Featured Selections) such perennially popular stories, Thacher Hurd serves up a new action-packed tale that will delight young readers.

1996 ‘Pick of the Lists' (ABA)
Children's Choices for 1997 (IRA/CBC)
1998 Red Clover Book Award (VT)

Oh, no! Someone has stolen the Mona Woofa from the Dogopolis Museum of Art and the police don't even realize that they are barking up the wrong tree when they collar their number one suspect. So it's up to Art Dog, the mysterious, masked painter who roams the streets of Dogopolis, to find the missing masterpiece. Zip! Splash! Smoosh! He paints himself a Brushmobile, and he's off––on a wild and funny chase to capture the dastardly crooks. With the same deft touches of high-spirited fun and adventure that have made Mystery on the Docks and Mama Don't Allow (both Reading Rainbow Featured Selections) such perennially popular stories, Thacher Hurd serves up a new action-packed tale that will delight young readers.

1996 ‘Pick of the Lists' (ABA)
Children's Choices for 1997 (IRA/CBC)
1998 Red Clover Book Award (VT)

About this title

About the Author

Thacher Hurd is the award-winning author and illustrator of several children's books. He lives with his wife, Olivia, in Berkeley, California.

Thacher Hurd es un autor e ilustrador que ha recibido varios premios por sus libros para niños. Vive con su esposa, Olivia, en Berkeley, California.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 3-At the Dogopolis Museum of Art, Arthur Dog guards priceless paintings by such famous artists as Vincent Van Dog, Pablo Poodle, and Henry Muttise. He leads a quiet life except when the moon is full; then he becomes transformed into "Art Dog." Donning beret and mask, and armed with his paint box, he steals into the city's deserted alleys. There, under cover of darkness, he brightens bleak walls with his brilliantly colored paintings of wildlife. When, one night, thieves steal Dog Vinci's "The Mona Woofa" from the museum, the canine uses his art-sensitive nose and sleek brushmobile to find the culprits. In perhaps the brightest double-page scene ever painted-an open pastiche on Matisse-he is shown subduing the crooks with paints and slashing brush. The museum tries to honor Art Dog for his bravery, but this superhero of the dog world prefers to remain anonymous and finish his painting of the city's night sky. Hurd infuses every page of this book with dramatic watercolors. The accompanying story is light and brief, and moves this superdog through his adventures as adroitly as it does readers.?Virginia Golodetz, St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Talk about a dog marking its territory-by day Arthur Dog is a mild-mannered hound who guards the Dogopolis art museum, but when the moon is full, he becomes Art Dog. Donning beret and mask, he takes paints and brushes and fills the back alleys of the city with his murals. Art Dog remains undiscovered until he's framed for the theft of Leonardo Dog Vinci's Mona Woofa. He's thrown in the clink, but escapes with the help of his superpowered medium ("where there were bars, he painted a window"), nabs the real crooks and gets his own gallery exhibit as a reward. Hurd's (Mama Don't Allow; Mystery on the Docks) straight-from-the-tube palette and blurry brush strokes suggest a painter in speedy action; his art-humor-canine portraits based on canvases by Vermeer, Seurat, Picasso and others line the museum walls-is good-natured. His plot, meanwhile, gleefully invokes comic-book conventions: Art Dog drives a streamlined Brushmobile, stops off at the Wile E. Coyote-esque Acme Paint Co. and battles the baddies in a dynamic spread highly suggestive of TV's goofy Batman (enhanced with cutout shapes a la Matisse). A waggish good time. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-8. By day, he's Arthur, a mild-mannered museum guard. But at night, he becomes Art Dog, splashing the city with his own mile-high monsters and shimmering sun-drenched scenes. One night, there is a robbery at the Dogopolis Museum of Art, where Arthur works. The thieves have stolen the Mona Woofa, leaving a painting of a blond in its place. Naturally, Art Dog, who is caught painting a picture on an outside wall, is a suspect. He's thrown in jail, paints his way out, and finds the Mona Woofa because "he can smell art a mile away." His bravery rates him a show of his own at the Dogopolis, though Art Dog's identity remains a secret. This is exuberantly drawn by Hurd, who has imbued Art Dog with the flash and dash every artist feels at times; but Hurd also captures the shyness that comes with displaying your art. Kids will respond not just to the pictures but also to a story that does as well with characters as with plot. Ilene Cooper

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060244240
• ISBN 13: 9780060244248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Hurd Thacher
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32