My Big Dog (Family Storytime) (Hardcover)

by Janet Stevens (Author), Susan Stevens Crummel (Illustrator) "My name is Merl and I am a cat, a very special cat..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The arrival of a big-hearted, dopey golden retriever puppy disrupts a reigning cat's domain in sister collaborators Stevens (Tops & Bottoms) and Crummel's irresistible tale told from the feline's point of view. Merl, a crotchety brown-and-white cat with a pink play mouse dangling from its mouth, likes things Merl's way: "Inside my house, my pur-r-r-r-fect house, everything is mine! My dish. My sofa. My chair...." The cat is not amused when the new puppy bounds up with her "sloppy, drooly tongue" and tries to make friends. But it gets worse: the dog just keeps getting bigger (shown adorably full-grown in the centerfold with a "Violet" name tag), so the cat sets off in search of a new home until Violet comes along to retrieve Merl. Stevens's busy, close-up pastel drawings underscore Merl's firm position by frequently depicting the cat solo, simply looking out at the viewer. Stevens effectively uses these one-page portraits to convey the cat's internal life through its whiskered disgruntled expressions, uneven ears and lifeless toy mouse, while depicting Merl's interaction with Violet in successive energetic spot drawings. The few times humans are in evidence, they appear in black-and-white photographs that Stevens overlays atop her drawings. The authors' chronicle of the puppy's slow victory over Merl's disaffections works to great comic effect. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-A disgruntled feline tells his story. Everything in the house belongs to Merl until an intruder arrives-an annoying puppy that licks him and follows him around. When the golden retriever grows up, the cat hits the road, convinced that they can never be friends. Several people try to adopt Merl but nothing works out to his satisfaction. One lady dresses him up with bows and ribbons and a ridiculous striped jacket. Forlorn, he's rescued by the dog and taken home. Maybe they can be friends after all. Merl's first-person narrative is to the point; however, as the action progresses, the cat's deadpan, smugly superior voice begins to border on the pathetic. Instead of staying on the top of his game, he becomes a pawn through his own stubborn behavior; while his dress-up get-up may look funny, it only serves to highlight his fall from grace. Once back home, the cat declares himself the ruler but it's really the dog that wins children's hearts. Initially the scruffy, unkempt, free-flowing pastels are humorous and energizing. In the few scenes with people, the humans are pictured in photographic gray, creating an intriguing and visually arresting juxtaposition to the splashy, colorful animal world. However, as Merl continues to mope about on the pages, readers' interest and sympathy begin to wane. What starts out as funny and original becomes overused. Merl might tell readers he's "a very special cat," but it's hard to know why.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Golden Books (September 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307102203
• ISBN-13: 978-0307102201
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #209,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dublin Elementary's First Grade Class!!!, April 15, 2005

A Kid's Review

Our class thought this book was funny! We laughed when the cat, Merl, got dressed up as a girl. Our favorite part was when the kids played tug-of-war with Merl. You have to buy this book! It is excellent!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes a Dog can be a Cat's Best Friend, June 24, 2005

By	Sophie Cacique Gaul (Austin, Tejas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Big Dog (A Golden Classic) (Hardcover)

"My dish. My sofa. My chair. My mouse. My Bed." These are the words uttered by Merl, a very special cat and above each two word sentence is an excellent illustration. Merl, who always seems to have his pink mouse toy in his teeth by the tail is a happy, content cat, until his owners bring home a puppy. The puppy dog licks and slurps Merl to no end, apparently not aware that cats and dogs aren't supposed to be friends. Merl does everything he can to discourage the puppy, but in the end finds that nothing he does will shake this dog's love, so he leaves and seeks out a new home.

However, everywhere he goes he has problems, first a lady dresses him up like a show cat, children fight over him and he winds up sleeping in a box on the street until this dog comes by and guess what, that dog is the puppy all grown up and he takes Merl home and Merl decides to be friends after all, but there are a few rules he lays down and they are, "My dish. My sofa. My chair. My mouse. My bed and My Big Dog."

This is wonderful book for children just learning to read. The illustrations are simply beautiful. Your child will just love this. I know my girls did when they were learning to read. Five stars from me for "My Big Dog."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thornwood Tigers Book Review, September 15, 2003

A Kid's Review

Our class thought this book was funny. We liked the part when the dog licked the cat. The pictures were very colorful and they had a lot of detail. Merl and the dog were hilarious! This book is Pur-r-r-rfect!