It Shouldn't Happen (to a Dog)

by Don Freeman, Todd DePastino (Foreword by)

Overview

Army life didn't agree with GI Albert C. Bedlington, Jr. He felt like he was always crawling on all fours, and one day when the very thing he'd feared for months finally happened — he had become a dog! The fellas all recognized him, so he carried on as usual, going on a furlough, visiting the USO, getting in and out of trouble, and serving with the K-9 corps.
Recounted chiefly in winsome illustrations, this fantasy was written and drawn by Don Freeman, author of Corduroy and other children's books. His witty and unusual take on World War II–era life among the enlisted men and on the home front was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a "fantastic and captivating story" and by the Chicago Tribune as "wonderful fun."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486798929
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	08/15/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Don Freeman is known to many as the author of Corduroy and other children's books. He is also famed as a graphic artist who vividly portrayed the street life and theater world of New York City in the 1930s and '40s. He studied etching with John Sloan and frequently portrayed subjects from Broadway theater, politics, and the circus.

Read an Excerpt

It Shouldn't Happen (To a Dog)

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By Don Freeman

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 2014 Todd DePastino
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-79892-9

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CHAPTER 1

what happened to PvT. ALBERT C. BEDLINGTON JR.

Al was no different from any of the other fellows in our barracks—at first.

There's no doubt he TRIED as hard as any guy could, but Army life didn't come easy to him.

Just when he started to change nobody can say. Maybe it happened the day the lieutenant made him show his dog tags—the way he looked at him.

Or perhaps it was that sergeant––

the way he'd yell at him—"C'mon, Bedlington, crawl!"

It seemed to Bedlington as if he were always on all fours.

As I say, no telling just how or when it happened. One night he was sitting on his top bunk, brooding. He brooded on into the night, and the following morning when he went in to shave, Bedlington had the shock of his life.

... What he'd been fearing for months had happened.

Terrified, he ran back to his bunk.

Then he reported on the sick list. Nobody noticed him. Everybody was sick as a dog.

The Medics were frustrated,

so he was sent to the head psychiatrist, who found nothing unusual about his case and ordered him to return to duty.

Back in the barracks Al wondered what they would say about him.

He needn't have worried. When the fellas came in they all recognized him.

And so life went on as usual.

"Prepare for gas!"

"Say, Sergeant, which one is Bedlington?"

A Three Day Pass

Al received a three-day pass from his commanding officer.

This was his first bus trip to town. He had never been out of camp before.

When he got on the bus it was already full of GIs.

"Hey, you! You can't sit there! Move on to the back seat, Where d'ya think y'are anyhow?!"

"America, of course," Al answered.

"You an' me better settle this outside."

That Might At The USO

"Get this straight, Al, anywheres I can go, you can go too!"

"Good evening, boys."

"What did I tell ya? We all look alike to them."

It looked so easy to Al, he had to try it.

This wasn't for him.

He decided he must be the intellectual type.

Next day, at the library.

He went to the park to read in peace.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from It Shouldn't Happen (To a Dog) by Don Freeman. Copyright © 2014 Todd DePastino. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Army life didn't agree with GI Albert C. Bedlington, Jr. He felt like he was always crawling on all fours, and one day when the very thing he'd feared for months finally happened—he had become a dog! The fellas all recognized him, so he carried on as usual, going on a furlough, visiting the USO, getting in and out of trouble, and serving with the K-9 corps.
Recounted chiefly in winsome illustrations, this fantasy was written and drawn by Don Freeman, author of Corduroy and other children's books. His witty and unusual take on World War II–era life among the enlisted men and on the home front was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a "fantastic and captivating story" and by the Chicago Tribune as "wonderful fun."
Dover (2014) republication of the edition published by Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1945.
See every Dover book in print at
www.doverpublications.com