Open Me...I'm a Dog

by Art Spiegelman

Overview

What’s got a tail and just wants to go home with you, but will never make a mess on the carpet, or smell like, well, wet dog?

Through the power of a wizard’s magic comes a book that isn’t a book—it’s a DOG! We promise.

Have you ever seen a book that barks? How about a dog with pages? For all the kids who keep asking for a dog and don't seem to appreciate their books enough, we have the perfect solution. Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Spiegelman, the author of Maus and Jack and the Box, has conjured up a winning mix of dog and hardcover picture book, complete with fuzzy, cuddly pages, a tail, a sturdy cotton leash, and so much more. Bring this lovable pooch into your family and he’s sure to become a kid's—or reader’s—best friend!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662665486
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	10/08/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Art Spiegelman is best known for his masterful two-volume Holocaust narrative, Maus, which in 1992 won a Pulitzer Prize. In 2005, he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. He was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2005 and—the American equivalent—played himself on an episode of The Simpsons in 2008. In 2011, Art Spiegelman won the Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. He lives in New York City with his wife and collaborator, Françoise Mouly, TOON Books' editorial director.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 1--Spiegelman, whose adult graphic novel Maus (Pantheon, 1986) has reached icon status, tries his hand at a picture book with mixed results. The story involves the misadventures of a dog transformed into a sheepherder by a witch, into a frog by a magic maiden, and into a book by a wizard. Delivered with tongue-in-cheek humor, sophisticated language, and several external contrivances in packaging, the whole is disappointing. The laughs and wordplay will be appreciated by school-aged children (e.g., when the witch turns the puppy into a German Shepherd, it is a shepherd from Germany). However, the gimmicks will appeal most to very young children. The book has a sturdy leash attached to its binding, fuzzy endpapers, a pop-up page, and a lift-the-flap page. While this is a clever novelty, it is less successful as a story. It has neither the well-focused humor of Susan Meddaugh's Martha Speaks (Houghton, 1992), nor the enduring simplicity of Eric Hill's Where's Spot (Putnam, 1980).--Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT

School Library Journal

Spiegelman (Maus, 1986, etc.) tries his hand at a picture book—it looks and smells like a book, but it earnestly (dare one say doggedly?) assures its readers that it's actually a puppy, transformed by an annoyed wizard after a series of mishaps. Offering in evidence a pop-up tail ("How many books have tails that wag?"), fuzzy orange endpapers, and an attached fabric leash, the poor mite promises to be a special pal to readers who believe: flealess, housebroken, and willing to tell its story any time. It's a winning conceit, with ingenuous tongue-in-cheek illustrations, though, like Lane Smith's Happy Hocky Family (1993), some will find that much of the humor is pitched over the heads of its target audience.

Kirkus Reviews