Dog Breath (Paperback)

by Dav Pilkey (Author) "There once was a dog named Hally, who lived with the Tosis family..." (more)
Key Phrases: Hally Thsis, Hally Tosis

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
It could be said that Pilkey (Kat Kong; the Dragon books) never let a good story go unPUNished. From its open-mouthed mutt to its put-upon family to its climactic burglary scene, this latest entry might have been modeled on Susan Meddaugh's Martha Speaks. But Pilkey's silly tales forage unabashedly for lowbrow laughs, and his aim is usually accurate, even if adults more than kids will catch these halitosis jokes. Here, "a dog named Hally, who lived with the Tosis family," emits green puffs of breath so toxic they knock Grandma Tosis out of her chair. When the Tosis parents put their putrid pet up for adoption, the Tosis kids try to save Hally: they bring her to a site with a "breathtaking view"; to a movie (starring "Perry O'Donnel and Giner Vitus") said to leave audiences "breathless"; and to a roller coaster so fast it makes riders lose their breath-to no avail. Yet a glimpse of a headline on a newspaper (called The Daily Foreshadow) and a wanted poster showing two robbers presage a happy ending: the villains visit the Tosis home and suffer the odiferous consequences. Pilkey's punchy art, characterized by heavy black outlines and bold colors, matches the clowning quality of the text (the watercolors, pencils, magic markers, and Dijon mustard"). Guaranteed to ward off smellancholy. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?Corny jokes, plays on words, and garishly colored illustrations are Pilkey's stock-in-trade. This outrageous book continues the tradition. Hally is a fine, loving dog with horrible breath. Even skunks avoid her. When Mr. and Mrs. Tosis decide to give her away, their children try to cure the problem, but nothing works. Her days as the family pet are numbered?until she licks the faces of two burglars. They pass out cold on the living-room floor, and Hally becomes a heroine. With clothespins on their noses, the family concludes that "...life without Hally Tosis wouldn't make any scents." Two levels of humor coexist in this book, neither of them subtle. Children will laugh at pictures of people reeling from Hally's breath, while adults will groan over some of the more sophisticated puns. The simplified cartoon drawings in comic-book colors will attract many browsers. While this is a one-joke story, many children should find it funny.?Nancy Seiner, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439598397
• ISBN-13: 978-0439598392
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's a hoot!, June 11, 2000

By	K. Bennett (Rolla, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dog Breath!: Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis (Hardcover)

If you like puns and sight gags, then you'll love Dav Pilkey's Dog Breath, subtitled The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis. This crime-fighting canine story is one pun after another. Those adults who don't appreciate a good (or a really bad) pun may groan, but kids will eat it up and ask for seconds.

Hally, the resident dog in the Tosis household, has breath so bad that when she opens her mouth, the leaves on the houseplants wither and die, the wallpaper curls up, and the picture of Mona Lisa holds her nose. Her breath is so bad that Mr. and Mrs. Tosis tell the kids the dog must go. The kids try everything to fix Hally's aroma -- the breath-taking view doesn't work, neither does the movie that promises to "take your breath away."

That night, two burglars, whose arrival has been heralded all through the illustrations, break into the Tosis house. The only thing that stops them from making off with all the family's stuff is, what else, a big, wet, sloppy, stinky slurp from Hally. Mr. and Mrs. Tosis can't kick a hero out of the house. Because, after all, life without Hally... no, I'm not going to spoil one of the best puns in the book for you; you'll just have to read it yourself

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 ½* Tongue Wags the Dog, April 19, 2004

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dog Breath!: Horrible Trouble With Hally Tosis (Hardcover)

The pleasingly familiar illustrations and comic sensibilities (i.e., silly, punny, off-hand) of famed children's writer Dav Pilkey are evident from the first line (and its accompanying illustration): "There once was a dog named Haley, who lived with the Tosis family." (Get it--Haley Tosis?). This dog is so smelly that Mona Lisa holds her nose, a skunk tries to hide, and Grandma Tosis faints after Haley gets in her face. After this, there are some typical Pilkey puns and visual humor as the family kids try to clean up her act.

After Haley saves her human family from some burglars, she becomes "the most famous crime-fighting dog in the country." The last page is quintessential Pilkey: The Tosis family, clothespins pinching their noses, gathers around Haley in an overstuffed chair, happy to keep their dog "Because life without Haley Tosis just wouldn't make any scents." Although the book has other such puns and clever pictures, it's mostly for younger kids. Pilkey really reaches his zenith in the "Captain Underpants" series, which features humor that is both more outrageous and layered. There's more fun and irreverence in those books, but this is a good introduction to Pilkey for the younger set.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Toddlers love this book too, September 26, 2004

By	prismklr (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

My husband picked this book up because of its sense of humor and bright and colorful illustrations, when our son was about a year old. What we didn't count on was how much he would enjoy this book at such a young age. Right away it was one of his faves, and he "reads" it himself every day - sometimes 4-5x. Also, he requests it for bedtime and sometimes he wants it read 2-3x. However, we don't mind the repitition, as the puns and clever illustrations make it fun for adults too.