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Summary
Summary
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Bobo really wants to be a good dog. It's just that being good takes so much effort. When his owner finally has enough and sends him packing, it's silent Cat who misses him the most. Armed with a how-to book and quiet determination, Cat begins to instruct Bobo in proper dog etiquette. Shake, fetch, and roll over all go well. But can Cat really turn this incorrigible canine around?
Drenched in cotton-candy colors and brimming with whimsical details, Bobo proves a fact all dog lovers know: nobody can resist a good dog, even when he's bad!
Reviews
"Bobo, the great galumphing hound in Gail Page's How to Be a Good Dog is the canine Oscar Madison. . . .Pale and plump with a single black spot, Bobo has a Thurber-esque squishiness in Page's cartoonlike acrylics. His eyes are never more than two tiny dots, but they're endlessly expressive. How the author accomplishes this I can't say. But it seems to be an unwritten law that in the world of children's books, the larger the dog, the smaller the eyes, and vise versa." - New York Times Book Review , children's feature issue
"The pictures [in this book] are pleasing and, to my eye, beautiful. At the same time, they're genuinely funny. This, to me, is the best thing possible. And it's hard to do."---Daniel Pinkwater on NPR's Weekend Edition, Saturday, Feb 11th. To read more on the How to Be a Good Dog feature, click here.
"The quirky humor in the brief text is matched by the funny antics of the floppy canine in the illustrations as he tries to be a good dog, but always in his own way." - Kirkus Reviews
"This lively tale of a good-hearted canine and his kindly cat friend gets its charm from its bold and colorful illustrations...But it is the story, told in plain, simple, unembellished words that any child can understand, that grabs your heart and won't let go." - Curled Up With A Good Book
"The large acrylic paintings with cartoon figures and the simp
Author Notes
Gail Page is a fine artist and textile designer whose work has been exhibited in shows and galleries throughout the country. This is her first picture book, based loosely on her own mostly good dog, Gimpel. Gail lives in Brooksville, Maine.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Bobo is a big white dog who "tried hard to be a good." He loves to hear his owner praise him, and he anticipates the tasty treat that follows. Unfortunately, he also reads with his feet on the table, makes a mess while eating on the sofa, and leaves paw prints all over the house, so he is sent outside to the doghouse. To work his way back inside, he takes lessons from the cat on how to "shake," "fetch," and "heel." When Mrs. Birdhead returns from grocery shopping, Bobo, excited to show her his tricks, bounds down the stairs, sending groceries flying. The angular lines of Cat and Mrs. Birdhead are contrasted with Bobo's soft roundness, while pastel hues dominate. The large acrylic paintings with cartoon figures and the simple text make this a good choice to share with groups of young children.-DeAnn Okamura, San Anselmo Public Library, CA PECK, Jan. Way Far Away on a Wild Safari. illus. by Valeria Petrone. unpaged. S & S. June 2006. RTE $15.95. ISBN 1-4169-0072-1. LC number unavailable. PreS-K-Following on the heels of Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea (2004) and Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree (2005, both S & S), Peck and Petrone feature a pith-helmeted boy visiting the animals of the African savannah. Each spread focuses on one animal with six rhythmic, patterned lines of text featuring an action the creature is taking (sloshing, spying, roaring, zigzagging, etc). In the end, the animals are revealed to be cookies baked by Grandma. The full-color illustrations are digitally rendered in bold lines and bright colors. Although there is little dramatic action, readers looking for books with a safari theme or for African animals will find adventure enough in the cozy cadences of these vignettes.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this variation on the old feline/canine rivalry, Cat secretly works with Bobo the dog to refine his slovenly habits. Bobo belongs to Mrs. Birdhead, whose nest-like hat and its purple-feathered occupant balance primly on her auburn pageboy 'do. Bobo seems half-pet, half-person: he walks upright, tracks food all over the floor and chews on a book labeled "homework" (although there are no children present). His buffoonery lands him in the doghouse, where he mopes until Mrs. Birdhead goes shopping, and Cat surreptitiously trains him. Their "fetch" lesson goes awry when Cat throws a ball into the house, but "heel turn[s] out to be very handy" when Cat boosts Bobo through the window to retrieve the ball. Indoors, Bobo does yoga "sit" postures and practices "lie down" in bed. What Bobo lacks in manners, he makes up for in enthusiasm, and before Mrs. Birdhead can banish him again, Bobo struts his new stuff and wins a reprieve. Page's debut closely resembles Pinkwater's "bad bears" picture books in its pratfalls and amateurish visuals. In the mushy acrylic images, Bobo appears to be formed from a lump of grayish-white clay. His malleable, clumsily shaped body stretches to emphasize his clown-plus-canine qualities, and he lends gusto to the otherwise lukewarm custard-colored pages. Ages 3-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Bobo loved to hear Mrs. Birdhead say, ""You're a good dog, Bobo""--but Bobo's natural exuberance gets him banished to the dog house, until Cat takes a hand in his training. Broadly emotive illustrations of the anthropomorphized hound cavorting in open expanses of color employ a child-friendly simplicity of line while humorously reinterpreting the text's ""Sit!"" and ""Stay! (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Bobo is a large, white dog with a big, black nose who lives a pampered life alongside his fellow pet, a well-behaved cat who wears a proper apron when washing dishes. Their owner, Mrs. Birdhead (who inexplicably wears a nesting bird strapped to her head) has failed to train her dog in the rudiments of indoor behavior. When Bobo continually misbehaves, he is banished to the backyard, and the cat attempts to end their unhappy separation by giving Bobo obedience lessons. The standard obedience school commands are interpreted with amusing results, as Bobo's idea of "sit" is lounging in a comfy chair and "heel" means literally kicking up his heels. Children will enjoy the humorous sight of Bobo in his pajamas practicing "lie down" and "roll over" in his own four-poster bed, as the cat reads instructions from a dog-obedience guidebook. The quirky humor in the brief text is matched by the funny antics of the floppy canine in the illustrations as he tries to be a good dog, but always in his own way. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.