Customer Reviews

Christmas Dog, The

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Loved this book. Clean wholsome entertainment. Great holiday read but good reading any time of year. Carlson has a wonderful way with keeping the suspense going while keeping paralell stories moving along simultaneously. I cant wait to try another of her books.

Whether you're struggling to find that perfect gift or just craving a cheery story to put you in the mood for Christmas, this is the book for you. The star of the show is the cutest little ball of fluff you could imagine: a would-be monster who saves the neighborhood --- and the holiday season.

THE CHRISTMAS DOG is a little Yorkshire terrier with the character of an imp who always shows up at just at the right time. It's hard to envision how anyone could ever call him a mutt, but that's what old Betty Kowalski thinks he is. Betty is the grandma who lives next door to Jack Jones, a young man who has become the neighborhood nightmare. Prim and proper, Betty is usually neighborly and friendly to everyone, but "that Jack character" has gotten her all fussed up.

Ever since Jack moved in, he's been tearing his house apart and leaving bits and pieces of it in his driveway for everyone to look at. A pink toilet has been sitting in his backyard for weeks, but the trailer in the front yard is worse. It's piled up with muck and junk and then covered with a blue tarp, roped down by some clear containers with a mysterious liquid inside. Wondering what that liquid could be keeps Betty up at nights, thinking maybe it's a toxic substance or maybe Jack is working on a meth lab. She feels that Jack is a jerk because he works with his power tools all night long and yells at his neighbors. And now his mangy mutt seems insistent on relieving himself right on top of Betty's favorite dogwood.

Betty seems to have become grumpy in her old age. She's a widow, alone for the holidays; can we blame her? It makes an old woman feel a little forlorn to face the holiday season again --- especially when her neighbors aren't so friendly. This dog of Jack's is also driving her mad because he's muddy and keeps coming over to her place. Betty is ready to move out, and her neighbor Katie is right there with her, but Betty's daughter, Susan, urges her to wait. With that in mind, Susan offers Betty the same advice that her mother once gave to her: "Kill him with kindness."

The holiday spirit that Betty can't seem to find comes back to her when her granddaughter, Avery, shows up on her doorstep. Avery is there to spend Christmas at grandma's, and Betty feels honored to have her. Still, the dog just might ruin things for everyone --- it's because of his mischief that Betty has to keep running over to Jack's house. Their holiday will become one to remember when Jack finally tells Betty that this mischievous little mongrel isn't actually his. Avery has become far too attached to little Ralph, who now appears to be theirs for the holiday.

The stress of Christmas combined with the thought of owning an animal is making Betty feel sick inside, but her granddaughter teaches her to see the situation in a new light. Pastor Gordon also helps put the holiday in perspective as his sermon reminds everyone of what the holiday means. In the process, Betty rediscovers her Christmas spirit and finds some unexpected neighborhood friends.

Overall, in THE CHRISTMAS DOG, you'll find a pleasing conventional story of holiday delights and finding love where you least expect it. Though the outcome is predictable and the action sparse, it's a fitting book for the holidays and just the right thing to entertain you while you sit by the fire. With a leisurely pace, you can read along easily while listening to Christmas music and eating fresh-baked cookies. The book should calm your mind enough to get you out shopping and putting up lights, and it would make a great old-fashioned gift for many people, especially older dog lovers, grandmas and neighbors.

--- Reviewed by Melanie Smith

A sweet Christmas story that is predictable and full of difficult characters who grow and change. Betty is a lonely and embittered elderly woman who knows the goings-on of the neighbors but has lost touch with the neighbors as people. Jack spends his nights littering his yard with debris and tearing apart his house. Or is it his house? Then there is Avery, a step-granddaughter with a chip on her shoulder and a controlling mom. Finally, a brown bundle of fur who just shows up one day and mixes things up for everyone.

Christmas book collectors may want to look into this one especially if they are dog story fans.

Like another viewer I always enjoy reading Christmas books and watching Christmas movies. In the book department I seem to be more disappointed than not in recent years and this book was no exception. It was not horrible, certainly a clean and gentle read, but it was boring and there just wasn't much to hold my interested. I ended up skimming the last third of the book. When it comes to Christmas I am find that the old classics (A Christmas Carol) are simply the best and very hard to beat!!!

I am a sucker for Christmas stories - written and on screen. Around Thanksgiving I start looking for a few Christmas books, and use the Tivo to find some holiday movies. So I was happy to find a new book for 2009.

Unfortunately, I did not feel like there was much here. While wanting to see how the story would resolve itself, I felt like I was slogging through the story-telling. How many times must I hear Betty, the central character, think that her neighbor, Jack Jones, must be a dreadful person, even though, as far as I can tell, she has interacted with him less than a few minutes? How many times must I read her fears that he might be a criminal, perhaps even a serial killer? And it is hard not to laugh at writing like, "What if she were setting herself up for trouble? What if Jack Jones was a dangerous man? A criminal? It was one thing to love thy neighbor, but what if her neighbor was a murder, or a pedophile, or a sociopath? Should she take cookies to a man like that?"

So, while I agree with other reviewers that this is a nice, gently story, to me it felt like a 2 hour, made-for-television movie that didn't really warrant more than 30 minutes.

I thought this was a really lovely 'feel good' book for Christmas.All the charcters lived, even, or especialy the dog. Just what I needed at Christmas time, thought provoking yet easy reading.

Although you don't have to be a dog lover to enjoy The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson, the dog in this book just might steal your heart. The dog first showed up at Betty Kowalski's home not too long before Christmas. Betty was a widow living alone and on a fixed income. She was very particular about her house and yard and didn't want a dog around to ruin her grass or her dogwood tree, which the male dog seemed to favor. He came and went and often wound up in the yard of the neighbor in back of Betty, called Jack. Jack's music bothered the neighbors at night and no one seemed to know who he was, where he came from or anything about him. The house he lived in used to be a very nice one, but he was tearing it apart and always had his truck parked in the front yard. Betty often wondered if he might be a serial killer.

Betty had quite a surprise one day when her step-granddaughter, Avery, showed up at the door. It hadn't been very long ago when Avery's parents called and told Betty that Avery was missing. Betty was happy to have her stay with her for Christmas, and once Avery met the dog who kept coming around, she fell in love with him. The dog is at the heart of this warm Christmas book.

This is a very nice Christmas story with a few religious overtones, but nothing that preaches. It's a sweet tail...or tale, of a family and a dog and a neighborhood that Betty was becoming afraid of, but in the end sees things as they really are. Amidst all of this is the little dog, better known as The Christmas Dog. I enjoyed the book and recommend it for anyone who likes Christmas books.

I read this book in an evening. It's a very enjoyable story about a lonely old woman, her granddaughter escaping from her over-bearing mother, and a misunderstood loner next door. A little dog brings them all together. I would recommend it.

We enjoyed reading this book each night with our 8 yr old son in bed, the week of Christmas. It is a good, wholesome story about a widow lady fighting frustrations at Christmas time involving planning an anniversary party for friends, an unexpected house guest (granddaughter), a stray dog, and lots of miscommunication between folks that leads to misunderstandings and some ill will. The author does a good job pulling things together at last, and the book ends like a good Christmas story should. We enjoyed this very much; it would make a good made-for-TV Christmas movie.

Another enjoyable Christmas book was just published by award winning author Melody Carlson. You'll want a copy of her new book The Christmas Dog just for the cover photo alone-it's going to capture your heart! In this Christmas book, a runaway daughter seeks the safety of her Grandma's home, a few days before Christmas. A relationship develops between Avery, a young woman in her mid-twenties, and Betty, the Christian grandmother living alone. The young woman is seeking shelter from a difficult mother, as she desires maturity and independence. Another relationship in The Christmas Dog occurs between Grandma and her neighbors, revealing a level of mistrust, gossip and fear.

The Christmas Dog is about a tiny lost dog finding his way into the lives of these characters. While he never speaks words in the story, the Christmas Dog shares a language of love and imprints on each of the people in the story. I wasn't pleased with the dog's name-Ralph-since he's so much cuter on the cover photo and in the story. As a dog owner, I think the author could have selected a dog name rather than a human name, that's just my opinion. Overall, the book is excellent, even my middle-school daughter enjoyed it!