Details
Synopsis
Leonard, who loves dogs but is rather afraid of them, asks a fairy to turn him into a dog so that he can undergo the canine experience himself.
| Size | | Height: | 8.8 in | | Width: | 11.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 14.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
German artist Erlbruch sketches a telling psychological portrait in this offbeat offering. Leonard loves nothing so much as dogs he pretends he's canine, barking and growling at home and at the grocery store, or he puts his obliging granny on a leash. But when he meets them in the fur, he's terrified. One day, a fairy grants Leonard's fondest wish, and the slight blond boy becomes a heavy-set brown-and-white mutt (his parents ``cried and cried but felt better when they realized what a good dog he was''). Leonard is thrilled until he encounters a harmless child. Suddenly, ``he imagined the world was full of ferocious little boys,'' and this change of perspective enables him to return to being a regular kid. There's a moody touch of Francis Bacon in Erlbruch's asymmetrical cartoon faces. The figures and objects in his compositions, drawn in pastels on brown paper and pasted onto beige backgrounds, have a slightly dislocated look that mirrors the wayward strain of Leonard's fantasies and phobias. Ages 2-6. (Sept.)
Bernstein
K-Gr 3 A fresh, funny fantasy with roots in a familiar psychological phenomenon. Leonard is simultaneously frightened and fascinated by dogs. Each morning when he wakes up, he behaves like one. His amiable family goes along with the joke, allowing him to bark and yelp, and to mimic a dog in the supermarket where he chews on the pant leg of an unwary shopper. When a fairy enters and offers him a wish, he unhesitatingly wishes to be a dog, only to discover that the world is full of boys whom he imagines to be universally ferocious. Taking pity on Leonard's misery, the fairy gives him a second wish, which he uses to restore himself to his original state. The premise is humorous on several levels. In addition, the familiar cautionary theme of being careful what you wish for is given an original twist. The exaggerated cartoons that interpret the restrained, deadpan text are a perfect foil. The resulting effect is antic whether Leonard is clinging to his mother's neck at the sight of a harmless pup, or the great, hulking mutt is leaping into his father's arms at the sight of a small lad. Executed in collages of brown paper and pastel, widely spaced on a background of pale tan, the art has a snappy, contemporary look. Definitely more than the sum of its droll parts, this is a laugh-out-loud treat in concept, words, and pictures. Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT
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