Shoe Dog

Starred review from December 16, 2013
Shoe Dog has a big problem: his new owner (referred to as “She, Herself”) is a shoe lover, and he’s an incorrigible shoe eater. He’s barely settled in from the animal shelter, when “Shoe Dog chewed through five high heels, four flip-flops, three sneakers, two boots, one wing tip,” reports Judy Moody author McDonald, who last collaborated with Tillotson on It’s School Picture Day! Neither his owner’s repeated cries of “BAD DOG!” nor the thought of being sent back to “the Land of Sad Puppies and Scratched-Up Cats and One-Eared Bunnies” can discourage Shoe Dog’s gleefully relentless footwear search-and-destroy missions. But what if Shoe Dog discovered a shoe of his own—one that brought out his best, kindest instincts? Tillotson’s canine hero is a marvelous creation, conjured up out of swiftly crayoned, coiled black lines and filled in with charcoal smudges; he looks like a tangled Slinky that’s sprouted bright eyes and pink triangle ears. Anyone who’s ever loved a goodhearted but ill-behaved dog will want to eagerly adopt this book. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from February 1, 2014
An irrepressible dog can't resist falling into the same type of mischief over and over again, until something surprising changes his pattern. This small, wiggly pup bounces upward as a silhouetted woman enters the animal shelter. He longs for a home "warm as soup / and cozy as pie," full of nose kisses and tummy rubs. And oh, how exciting--the woman takes him home! "That very day, / Shoe Dog chewed through / five high heels, / four flip-flops, / three sneakers, / two boots, / one wing tip." Scolding--" 'BAD DOG!' / She, Herself said"--and punishment--no petting or access to the Big Bed--see him lying forlornly in a gray-blue space, subdued. But each time new shoes arrive, he tracks down and rips into the fresh box, chomping every shoe with gusto. Consequences ratchet up mildly, but Shoe Dog never learns impulse control as such; instead, unexpectedly, he meets a shoe he'd never, ever chew. Finally he's welcome "on the Big Bed / in the Land of Upstairs," curling up blissfully with his new shoe-love. Tillotson uses thick black lines for Shoe Dog's scribbly, coiled-spring body, smudging charcoal inside his shape to give him substance; scraps of pink and beige mark his pointy ears and muzzle. Motion lines show how he scampers and bounds. The visual angle varies, and shoe-box tissue paper flies through the air. Totally ebullient. (Picture book. 3-7)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-A shoe-loving pup that lives in an animal shelter and dreams of having a real home with things to chew is adopted by a shoe-loving older woman. As the newcomer chews up his first pairs of boots, sneakers, and flip-flops, his person calls out, "Shoe Dog...You're so cute, but...." When he is well behaved, his world is full of nose kisses, ear scratches, and head pats. But when he transgresses, there are no "Cozy Covers," "Big Bed," or "Land of Upstairs" for him; instead, he is sent to the lightless basement-"the Land of Sad Puppies." Rich language carries readers through this superbly paced story of successful puppy training (with the aid of a new member of the household, Shoe Cat). Movement is key in the page layout and the kid-friendly illustrations in crayon and charcoal are digitally collaged.-Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Preschool-G Dog is excited when the lady chooses him from an animal shelter. At last he can graduate to a place full of hundreds of nose kisses, dozens of tummy rubs. But a problem asserts itself: Dog likes to chew shoesin fact, five high heels, four flip-flops, three sneakers, two boots, one wing tip in a single day. The lady buys more; they get eaten. More; eaten. The otherwise lovable muttnow dubbed Shoe Dog simply cannot restrain himself, regardless of his degraded living conditions (now he's in the basement with only a mop for a friend ). The lady solves the problem by bringing home slippers that look like cats. Shoe Dog, meet Shoe Cat! McDonald's lively word choices inject plenty of life into the repetitive storyline, and Tillotson's crayon, charcoal, and digital illustrations give it a goofy spark, depicting Shoe Dog as a zig-zag pattern that looks drawn from a single, thick line. This cool canine creation cavorts through an Escher-like home abstracted into furniture floating amid white space. Simple to relate to and easy to love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)