Bad Dog by Mike Boldt (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Bad Dog by Mike Boldt
Boldt, Mike Bad Dog; written and illus. by Mike Boldt. Doubleday, 2019 [38p] Library ed. ISBN 978-1-9848-4798-0 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-9848-4797-3 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-9848-4799-7 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R 3-6 yrs
Our exuberant narrator is thrilled to inform us that she has received a new dog for her birthday. There's only one problem: Rocky the dog is not very good at being a dog. While the girl tries to introduce Rocky to other dogs and attempts to teach her tricks, Rocky is more interested in sleeping and playing with our narrator's [End Page 158] shoelaces. Viewers will notice the problem immediately—Rocky is actually a cat—but our heroine needs some time to realize that Rocky's better suited to the feline life. Despite Rocky's shortcomings with scratching furniture and hating baths, it's clear from the get-go that our narrator has no issues with her strangely un-canine new pet. The humor will be welcomed by young listeners, but the bold, conversational text will also beckon early readers. Painterly saturated strokes give the girl lots of shiny highlights on her rotund face and a manic gleam in her eyes, and the dimensional art, reminiscent of DreamWorks animation, perfectly captures both the narrator's optimism and Rocky's mercurial nature. Listeners are sure to laugh and "aww" along as Rocky and her human grow to know and love each other, and they may even be inspired to adopt their own "bad dog."
