A Dog Needs a Bone! [Hardcover]

This title was reviewed by Three Silly Chicks - Readers, Writers, and Reviewers of funny books for kids. www.ThreeSillyChicks.com

One silly chick couldn't believe her luck when she passed a book on the bookstore shelves that featured a PUG and was written and illustrated by the fabulous Audrey Wood. Swoon City! True, she had to push aside a few pesky four year-olds who naively thought the book was for them. But honestly, that's what they get for standing in the way of a Chick on a Mission.

The persistent Pug in this tale wants just one thing--a bone, goshdarnnit! He will gladly sweep floors, answer phones and treat his mistress like a queen on a throne, all for a simple bone. We can relate. The three silly chicks have been known to do all that and then some for a scoop of Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce.

We love that Audrey Wood created these illustrations with crayons on brown paper bags. What could be easier than to have kids make their own books using these materials? Kids will also love finding all the bones hidden on each page.

Not only does Audrey Wood own two Pugs, she also has 20 chickens. Paging Audrey Wood! We want a chicken book, please!

One of the most stylish books I've seen recently, "A DOg Needs a Bone" (so true!) has the look of classic early 20th century graphics, all jiggly and big-eyed and overblown expression. The medium, crayon on brown paper bags (!), is not only tremendously witty, but lends a sort of antique patina to this tall tale.

Our Pug hero has a serious jones for some bones! Like small fry everywhere, he promises all sorts of reforms at home--if he only had a bone! He's not very particular: "A wheat bone, a treat bone, a toy bone, squeak bone...an old one, new one, I simply must have something to chew on!" (That, by the way, is the ONLY "forced" sounding rhyme and meter in the entire book.)

Our dog will promise just about anything, and part of the fun is "knowing" that he's really testing the limits of credibility:

"I'll sweep your floors. I'll answer your phone. I'll treat you like a queen on a throne." (He even claims he'll "never chase cats!.")

THere are large and small delights on every page. Your young audience may notice that, despite his best intentions, the promised help looks like it may not be very helpful. As pictured by Woods, dust clouds are swept up into the air, and the telephone table is knocked over. Our Pug also promises that he'llno longer "dig up your flowers" or "play with the paper" in the "powder room." "Paper," of course, is toilet paper, and scraps and lengths of the perforated giggly stuff is seen flying and landing everywhere! As for the small delights, WOods works in bones into every page; for example, the broom's handle is a bone, bones decorate tablecloths, curtains, and lots of clothes--even the architecture introduces a new kind of column: The Bonic!

The dog, let's be honest, is somewhat of a drama queen--or king, more accurately. He's almost beside himself when his owner leaves the house without his knowledge. He wraps himself up in her silk scarf. He takes to her bed. But...his ears prick up, his eyes enlarge..he hears her returning--from the store!

Some strange doggy-lady of the house dynamics ensue, as she offers him "a carrot, some broccoli, some squash, a few peas." instead of the expected bones. Doggy completely steals the show at htis point, mugging it up with a variety of over-the-top facial expression: HE's nauseated, he pleads/prays, he flips with astonishment, he covers his eyes! Fortunately, he has a kind (albeit teasing) owner; she reaches into the bag of vegetables...

"AND PULLED OUT " [insert picture of blissed out dog chewing on a bone about here]

"A BONE!"

That exclamation point is--most emphatically--a dotted bone!

Wood's story is clever, funny, and (melo)dramatic; her pictures are award-worthy. Very highly recommended for the classroom and the home, and wherever bones are coveted.

Audrey Wood's A DOG NEEDS A BONE! provides a fun story line and pictures by Audrey Wood as it tells of a dog who entreats his mistress to give him a bone - any kind of a bone. A simple, fun rhyme accents the dog's needs and makes for a fun story.

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