What Is Mr. Winkle? (Step Back in Time with Mr. Winkle) [Hardcover]

Lara Jo Regan (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Step Back in Time with Mr. Winkle

A cat in a dog suit? A hamster with a perm? A mythological unicorn herder? An alien? People all over the world have their theories about Mr. Winkle. With hilarious and adorable color photographs and captions, photographer Lara Jo Regan takes readers on an enchanting tour of the dozens of identities assumed by the charming Mr. Winkle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This campy photo gallery depicts a fuzzy miniature dog, Mr. Winkle (a familiar sight to many from his calendar, Web site and many media appearances), with his Chihuahua's rounded cranium and a tongue too long for his mouth. He wears various disguises (a fez, a satin smoking jacket) and poses in low-budget tableaux (a green shag rug to imply a grassy yard, a toy rowboat to suggest the high seas). Each ultra-kitschy studio portrait speculates on the title question. The caption "A Bowwow Ballerina?" accompanies a shot of Mr. Winkle in a pink tutu, and "A bedroom slipper?" refers to a retouched photo where his awkward, undersize body morphs into woolly footwear. In a foreword that simply adds to the enigma, Regan explains how she found her unusual pet while "lost in an industrial area" of L.A. ("This muddy, tattered little creature hobbled straight into my arms") and why she made him her model ("His power to heal, enchant, and entertain was too overwhelming to keep to myself"). Her photographs, in which Mr. Winkle uncannily resembles a plush toy more than a live animal, combine the sugary sweetness of Anne Geddes's baby pictures and the creepy ambiguity of William Wegman's images. A final snap of Mr. Winkle sans costume declares him "The cutest dog in the universe!" but that precious answer is not quite in synch with this weird, slightly surreal set of pictures. Ages 4-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Preschool-Grade 2--Magazine photographer and guardian of Mr. Winkle, Regan lends her skills to the set design and layout of these highly stylized, and occasionally bizarre, images of her dog. With his various disguises, some of which may be familiar to those who have seen the calendar, Web site, posters, etc., each page offers a possible answer to the question posed by the book's title. The suggestions vary from the saccharine "Angel" to the funky, diabolic "Devil." While many of the pictures are undeniably adorable, including the "Bumblebear" cover photo, the "Bowwow Ballerina," and the "Ancient Koala," others are simply weird. The page with "A Hamster with a Perm?" shows the dog with pink, heart-shaped, cat-eye glasses, complete with rhinestones, on a pink treadmill with pink curlers on a pink ground and backdrop. On the opposing page the dog is "Perry Winkle," a debonair pooch in smoking jacket on a divan with a martini. Some of the images will be hard to explain, such as Mr. Winkle as "A Hallucination?" a photo complete with psychedelic background and the dog in funky shades. Although some kids will be fascinated by the variety and quality of the photos, the whole is a bit surreal.

Piper L. Nyman, Fairfield/Suisun Community Library, Fairfield, CA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (October 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375815546
• ISBN-13: 978-0375815546
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMERICAN'S NEWEST TOP DOG!!!, January 8, 2002

By 

Lori Hoover (New Paris, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Is Mr. Winkle? (Step Back in Time with Mr. Winkle) (Hardcover)

The question is "What is Mr. Winkle?" and the answer is... what ever your heart desires! The book features photos of this incredibly cute canine in various costumes . Mr. Winkle pretends to be a ghost, a sailor, and a ballerina. Mr. Winkles pretends to be other animals like a lion and a seal. You just have to see it to believe it! He is sooooo adorable!! My personal favorite photo is Mr. Winkle is an angel. And that is exactly what Mr. Winkle is an angel in fur!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too cute for words and a poster 'pet' for animal rescue, June 15, 2002

By 

lmk5 (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Is Mr. Winkle? (Step Back in Time with Mr. Winkle) (Hardcover)

Lara Jo Regan is the Anne Geddes of dogs! Her photos were amazingly creative and Mr. Winkle is just adorable. I bought this book as a present for a friend and was happy to know that part of the proceeds go to animal rescue, as do proceeds from Mr. Winkle's celebrity appearances. I may be a bad person but I kept the book - partly because my friend had bought it and had it auto-pawed by Mr. Winkle at a book signing but because it is a wonderful testament to another rescue doing good for the cause!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adorable creature :), August 2, 2010

By 

Library Lady "Miss Gloria" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Is Mr. Winkle? (Hardcover)

Mr. Winkle is the most wonderful little animal - he has so many personalities, all equally adorable. Lara Jo Regan found the little tyke as a stray and has made him into a living testament to helping animals in need. He has his own website with numerous products that can be purchased. I am a librarian and I have purchased all of his books for the library and they are checked out the instant they are returned. I have many Mr. Winkle items for myself as well - calendars, keychains, t-shirts. I can not get enough of Mr. Winkle and anyone who sees him in all his glory would not be able to either. GO MR. WINKLE!!!