From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2--After seeing a newspaper ad for a County Fair Dog Show, the Hubbles decide to enter their pet. While they think that Ed "is the best dog ever," their snooty neighbor, Mr. Pitt, dismisses him as just "a mangy mutt," and is sure Princess, his pedigreed poodle, will win the crown. Children will laugh at the diagram of Princess's flawless posture, with notations about her "perfect round puffy tail" and "serious attitude, serious haircut." In contrast, Ed's stage presence includes a "protruding tongue" and "spittle." As readers might expect, Ed wreaks havoc at the competition. The writing is witty and conversational. The wacky cartoon illustrations depict an unpretentious family with matching pop eyes. A labeled illustration points out amusing details, such as the mother's "tacky glasses" and "mismatched earrings," the father's "unshaven" face, the son's "ice cream" stained T-shirt, and the daughter's "lopsided ponytail." The final spread shows Princess, who has decided that she would live more happily ever after with the Hubbles, enjoying a ride in her new family's car with her head out the window. A funny, quirky story.
--Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 2. Princess is a show dog. Perfect posture, shiny teeth, even a poodle pom-pom tail. Ed's family, the Hubbles, thinks he's a show dog, too, although he's dirty and he drools. When the Hubbles decide to enter Ed in a show, they mimic Princess and her owners' preparations--with very poor results. Things only get worse at the show itself, where uncouth Ed coaxes Princess to bolt, and the Hubbles wind up taking her home. The story is slight; the action and humor, which is considerable, are in the pictures--from the cover art, featuring a bug-eyed Ed, tongue lolling out, and the illustration showing him leaving his "calling card" at the show, to the final spread, in which Ed, Princess, and their puppies are crowded into a car. McCarthy's bold images outlined in black, often take up the whole page, and her goofy-looking characters are several steps above the usual cartoon folk, more varied, and more richly colored. The short text will work well at story hours.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
