Customer Reviews

Good Boy, Fergus!

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My family had a Westie. David Shannon's "Good Boy, Fergus" completely nails the character of the breed. He's got every maddening but endearing trait of the "Westie-tude" down to a "T" in laugh-inducing drawings that you'll be eager to show others. Yes, "Fergus" is for reading level 4 - 8, but this adult reader was in tears of laughter thumbing through it. It's a compulsory purchase for anyone who has had a Westie make their indelible imprint on your life.

How David Shannon can get inside the head of our best friend is beyond me. There must be an angry dog somewhere who's barking mad at his or her stolen royalties. In fact, I almost suspect that our dog, the undeniably intelligent,funny, cooperative-yet-willful Sadie the Golden Retriever both co-wrote and modeled for the book.

NO that's there's any physical similaries between Fergus--a SUPER-expressive white terrior--and Sadie. However, both these dogs know how to give "Attitude," with a huge capital A. WHoever said that dogs are easy; cats are hard never met Fergus: Destructive as a bull shopping for china, playful as an otter, and stubborn as the stubbornest mule on either side of your closest mountain range. The disruption starts early as a calm morning walk (Fergus' human holds a newspaper, perhaps thinking he might glance at the headlines) turns into a chase after a cat. Fergus' legs fly in different directions, his tongue lunges forward, and his eyes grow big. Shannon draws this (in gouache and ink, I believe) almost like a cubist painting, "Dog Descending a Porch Trying to Eat a Cat," with playful elongations of time and dimension. The next 2-page spread is all too familiar to dog owners: Fergus, despite much pleading, expert commands ("COME"), and good cop/bad cop negotiations, refuses to return from his post at a squirreled tree.

Fergus knows how to work it. He's cute and cuddly, and he knows it. He can follow the rigorous commands of "Sit," "Roll Over," and "Down." This is a great advantage when wanting that itch scratched or the always-hungry belly filled. Fergus hides under the bed when it's bathtime(though his butt shows), adhere to canine union rules by sticking out his head while Mr. Human drives, successfully--through sheer persistence--gets spaghetti table scraps, and LEAPS upon his human at the mere metion of "walk." He pees on the sidewalk, but that's a dog's perogative, and, before retiring for the evening, waits out dinner until the man squirts it with whipped cream. Dry Food a la Mode, anyone?

I love this book. It captures the obvious and the subtle in well-known dog behaviors, and does so sympathetically. Sure Fergus can be a little work, but Shannon takes the healthy attitude that this is what a dog is like. Show dogs may sniff their noses at this notion, but Fergus is just not one of them, and never will be. Shannon's illustrations are spectacular; the big expanses of color with inkshading and detail, copious use of yellow, and the big green palid jacket of Mr. Human have an exciting 1940's aesthetic. Fergus is all motion and emotion, and Shannon gets it perfectly and playfully, with lots of open space, curvy lines, and multiple actions upn which delighted eyes will dance. Fergus has appeared in ten of Caldecott Honor winner Shannon's previous books, but this is his first as the main character. He acquits himself like a very good dog, indeed.

David Shannon's Fergus MacLaggan is always into everything - except that which he ought! Readers and the children to whom they read will delight in the luscious illustrations and Fergus' antics and escapades, he who will not eat his kibble without that aerosol artificial whipped cream topping from a can!
It's a wonderful dog's life!
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

Having two Westies of my own, I was sure that David Shannon was writing about mine. He definetely knows what Westies are like right down to the precious smile on their faces. It is an adorable book for all, but especially the Westie Lover. Thank you David Shannon for making my day with your wonderful book.

I am an in home day care provider and my 2-5 yr old children absolutely love this book. I have a dog and the children related everything Fergie did to my dog Sammy. The art work is very colorful and realistic. The children ask for me to read this book every day at storytime. David Shannon is one of my favorite authors of Children's books. My day care children respond and relate to all of his books. I recommend this book for all families to share with their little ones. David has brought the simple everyday responsibilities of having a pet to life so a small child can relate it to their own dog's needs and habits.

Some breeds of dog are especially picture book friendly. Your bulldogs, of course. Your weiner dogs. And then there's your West Highland terriers. I daresay that if you were to ask what type of pup is owned by more children's authors and illustrators than any other, it would be this breed. Author Rosemary Wells (who wrote the "McDuff" books) takes hers to book signings. "Widget", by Lyn Rossiter McFarland created a series out of her character. And now, to top it all of, David Shannon has thrown himself into the mix. Best known at this point in time for his "David" picture books (though I consider his, "Duck On a Bike" to be one of the best readlouds ever conceived), Shannon has come up with a whole crop of misbehaving but adorable misfits. First came "David" and his ilk. Then trotted out, "Alice the Fairy". And now we've gone into the world of canines with the new dog in town, "Good Boy, Fergus!". He's a West Highland terrier who, according to the bookflap, is found, "in ten of David Shannon's books". Apparently being an extra has paid off well in the end. Fergus has gotten his very own book and he's attempting to take the world by storm.

Your first view of Fergus is of a little white dog playfully chewing a monkey toy, rear firmly in the air. The first official page of the book, however, shows the little guy's head just barely peeping up over the coverlet of a bed. "Good morning, Fergus! Want to go out?". You bet he does. Together, we spend a day with a dog. From tummy tickles to a failure to obey commands, to the rapid destruction of a houseplant, we see Fergus pull every trick in the book. No matter what he tends to do, however, in the end he's always a, "Good boy". And by the time you see him sleeping peacefully on the bed's coverlet, you almostn begin to believe it yourself.

Until now, I don't think you can say that Shannon's done out-and-out cute before. You can make a case for "Alice" or "David" having a kind of grody charm, but you certainly wouldn't slap a label of "Adorable" onto their books. With "Fergus", it's different. Something about this terrier has struck a particularly delicate chord in the author's heart. Fergus hasn't the jolly ugliness of David's triangle nose and sharp pointy teeth. Maybe it's the fuzziness that makes him so lovable. Maybe the fact that Shannon can make a fast-moving dog's legs look to be in four different places at once. Or maybe it all comes down to the, "Don't beg, Fergus", sequence. This consists of four different colored shots, three of which show Fergus staring meaningfully up at a man sitting at the dinner table. By the fourth panel the man has given in and Fergus, munching delightedly on a meatball, gives the audience a waggish wink.

Sometimes picture books with canines can be separated into two categories: For Dog Lovers Only and For Everybody. "Fergus" kinda straddles this line. On the one hand, it's a perfectly nice book with plenty of mischief to keep the kids amused with doggie antics. On the other, I think dog lovers will find this book especially amusing. The rest of us? Moderately. Unlike the David books, Fergus's antics are just those of a high-strung pup. You can't revel in his naughtiness because so much of what he does is just what dogs do. The two-page spread of him having peed on everything in sight on a street corner is kind of naughty, but what else would you expect from a dog? Now if David were to do that, it would be another matter entirely. Just the same, it's hard to resist such a good-natured book. And when it all comes down to it, kids will love this pup's crazy schemes. Fun to read, "Good Boy, Fergus!", is a worthy successor of an already enjoyable series.

This is a very brightly illustrated book and very silly for children. I bought it because my [British] husband's name is actually Fergus and I thought it would be funny for my kids. We enjoy the book and the fact that the dog doesn't behave. I would recommend the book, even if no one in your family is named Fergus.

I loved ever page of this one and so did the kids in class. Most of the children have pets, most of them dogs, and could relate perfectly to Fergus and his owner. I myself have not been with out the company of a dog for well over fifty five years and the author certainly identified me! The illustrations in this work are great...you simply cannot help being attracted to Fergus. Fergus is all dog and does all the things a dog does. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

Have you ever read a book and thought the author had been looking through your windows at home because everything mirrors what goes on in your house?

Well, this book did that for me. Everything the adult says to Fergus and Fergus does (or doesn't do) happens to me with my own dog. My 5th grade students loved the book as a read aloud, especially after reading Red Fern and our constant stories of our own pets...we love our pets and many could relate to exactly what the person in the story was doing and feeling! A must-have for all libraries, at home and at school!

Good Dog Fergus! is the exuberantly illustrated day-in-the-life of wild West Highland Terrier Fergus. There is relatively little text to the book but what there is provides fun read aloud accompaniment to the real star--the wonderful drawings of Fergus and his adventures. David Shannon obviously has spent a lot of time around a real-life Fergus because he has an uncanny knack for capturing the movements, attitudes and facial expressions of a slightly spoiled pet. Many of the drawings, such as Fergus' burst out of the door after a cat, or his face after being "blow dried" by the wind from the car window, are laugh out loud funny. It would be a terrifically fun book to read to a toddler (and one that a toddler would very shortly be able to read to him/herself from memory), but it also makes a great gift for a dog lover of any age,who will appreciate Fergus' fast paced day.