From Publishers Weekly
Novelist Johansen (Torrie and the Dragon) makes her picture-book debut with this unassuming story of a dirty dog who won't take a bath. Pippin loves mud puddles, and when she finds one, "she splashed in that puddle, splish! splash! splosh!" Mabel, a cheerful blonde girl with a Charlie Brown-round face, has the difficult task of making Pippin clean once again. Every day, Mabel tries to put Pippin in a washtub, getting herself messy in the process. On the third day, a skunk's perfume finally persuades Pippin to bathe. Lum (the If I Had a Dog series) draws in a bland but upbeat, marker-and-watercolor style that recalls fashion-magazine illustration. Pippin's long ears are slender U-shaped loops, and her tail is a black curlicue. Mabel always wears a basic T-shirt and leggings, and her bouncy harvest-gold hair is a springy ear-to-ear coil. Simple flowers pop up everywhere. Five-petaled daisies bloom outdoors, and Mabel accessorizes with a floral motif. Everything comes out smelling like a rose, even when Pippin discovers a fresh puddle for the aw-shucks conclusion: "When Mabel saw Pippin, she sighed, and then she laughed. 'Oh Pippin,' said Mabel." A middle-of-the-road formula that may lose readers before the next planned Pippin and Mabel installment. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Pippin, a large pup, likes to play in the mud but does not like baths so her young owner's attempts to clean her pet are met with disaster. After an encounter with a skunk, the dog reluctantly agrees to be bathed, first in tomato juice, then in vinegar, and finally with doggie shampoo. In the end, she's back frolicking in the mud. The story is pedestrian and overly long. Children will catch on quickly that the pooch does not like baths, but the point is made again and again. Watercolor-and-marker illustrations are engaging enough, but do little to evoke any emotions. The attempts at humor simply do not work. Pippin Takes a Bath is inoffensive, but youngsters' response will be tepid at best.
Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
