Queen Dog

by Bridget Heos, Alejandro O'Keeffe (Illustrator)

Overview

Queen Dog has ruled her castle with grace and majesty since she was a pup. Her people adore her. They provide her with delicious meals and shower her with attention. Lately, though, they have been a bit distracted and service has started to slip. Queen Dog tries her best to make do—but then a stranger moves into the castle! Who is this tiny newcomer commanding all the attention? A servant, or a pretender to the throne?

With comic action and a regal twist, Queen Dog turns a royal pain into a perfect princess.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484728529
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Bridget Heos (authorbridgetheos.com) is the author of more than seventy children's books, including Mustache Baby, a finalist in the CBC Children's Choice Awards, and its sequels, Mustache Baby vs. Beard Baby, and Mustache Baby Meets His Match. She was inspired to write this story after visiting her aunt, whose dog didn't seem to understand why her newborn daughter was the one getting all the gifts. Bridget lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her husband and four children.



Alejandro O'Keeffe is an award-winning Argentinian artist whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and comic books as well as children's books. He lives in Buenos Aires.

Editorial Reviews

10/31/2016
Writing in the mannered, once-upon-a-time language of fairy tales, Heos (Mustache Baby Meets His Match) introduces Queen Dog, whose reign over her urban household is challenged by the arrival of a human baby named Catherine. In crisply delineated domestic scenes, Argentinean illustrator O’Keeffe creates a comedic disconnect between the descriptions of Queen Dog’s life and what reality actually looks like. “The brave and adventurous Queen Dog led her people on quests for great treasure,” writes Heos as Queen Dog—who resembles a Boston terrier and is never seen without her ruff and crown—races after a recycling truck with one of her owners in tow. By and large, this is a familiar story of displacement and reconciliation: after getting fed up with Catherine, Queen Dog has a change of heart during the child’s birthday party and decides that Catherine “would live in the castle as the queen’s princess-in-training.” But any readers who have known either an over-pampered pup or a cranky newborn sibling should find plenty to identify with and smile at in Heos’s story. Ages 3–5. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

2016-10-26
A coddled French bulldog rules her household like a queen until a baby arrives in the family.An extended textual metaphor of a pampered pooch as a royal character is the premise of this cleverly constructed but predictable story. The dog is treated like a princess as a puppy and receives the name Queen Dog along with a crown and a ruffled Elizabethan collar. The text describes the dog's behavior as events in a royal household, while the illustrations show corresponding scenes in modern settings. For example, leading "her people on quests for great treasure" shows the dog chasing a garbage truck, and organizing "royal hunts" depicts Queen Dog chasing a squirrel. The dog's white owners are her servants, until a small "visitor" (also white) arrives, and Queen Dog's world changes. At first the dog is jealous of the new addition to the household, but eventually Queen Dog becomes protective of the new "princess-in-training," as well as her loyal friend. The story keys in to the popular princess theme with the baby's name: Princess Catherine (as in the Duchess of Cambridge). Cheery illustrations in a pastel palette have a greeting-card prettiness tailored for younger preschool-age children. However, the nuances of the dog-as-queen metaphor require an understanding of historical royal life beyond the background knowledge of the intended audience, and the capacity to follow the intended disparity between text and illustrations is a sophisticated one. This offers lots of commercial appeal with a clever text, polished illustrations, a princess in pink, and a cuddly-cute dog, but the overall effort is forgettable. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews