My Dog, Cat [Hardcover]

Marty Crisp (Author), True Kelley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Ten-year-old Abbie, bullied at school for being small, wants to get a big black dog, but two months of living with a little Yorkshire terrier changes his mind about a number of things.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-In contemporary suburbia, fourth-grade Abbie dog-sits for his aunt's Yorkshire terrier. Already picked on by the school bully, he hates the thought of escalated teasing when out in public with a sissy dog. However, bonding begins when he rescues Catullus from being dressed as a doll and, of course, boy and dog are totally attached at book's end when Cat catches a robber and stands up to the bully and his Akita. The tale is sweet, if predictable. Cutesy brand names ("Fabulous Filly" pony toys) are annoying and slang terms ("geek" and "wazzup") will date the conversations. Some unlikely details are distracting, as when spelling-bee words include a number of dog breeds. Kelley's drawings of the pup are precious, but the human characters are less successfully rendered. True dog lovers will enjoy the story, as well as the advice on dog shopping in the afterword.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. Abbie has a couple of wishes. He wants a more masculine name. He wants to be taller. And he really wants a dog. When Aunt Laura goes away for six weeks, Abbie gets to take care of her new dog. Abbie's hoping it's a big dog. Too bad: when the pooch, Cat, arrives, he finds it's a little Yorkie. What follows is formulaic but still funny: Abbie fights off a bully with the help of some new friends and Cat; and when Cat helps catch a purse snatcher, Abbie sees that size is not as important as he thought. Aunt Laura's return makes Abbie realize what he's about to lose, and ending is sweet but no surprise. Middle-graders will recognize the milieu and the characters, especially as they are portrayed in True Kelley's amusing ink-and-wash illustrations. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823415376
• ISBN-13: 978-0823415373
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,353,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars bookreader, July 10, 2007

By 

Diane Rachael "forever reading" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Dog, Cat (Paperback)

As a librarian for an elementary school I'm always looking for books that my students will enjoy. Stories about dogs are usually a hit. OK, the ending is a little predictable but it is a children's book and the ending is a happy one. I would recommend it to some strong second grade readers, my third graders and even some of my students in fourth. It all depends on the student. It's a good story and words like "geek" are still being used so it isn't as dated as you would think.