Spare Dog Parts

November 2, 2015
Sure, purebred dogs are special, but is anything more lovable than a mutt? Not for the heroine of this collaboration between Hughes (Gerbil, Uncurled) and Spires (Edie’s Ensembles), who opens the book by proudly claiming that “When my dog was made, they used leftover parts.” Spires’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations reveal just how true that is: this dog is a Frankensteinian creation with patches of tan and gray fur stitched and stapled together, four mismatched legs (one perhaps coming from a donor Dalmatian), and a pair of “melting, soft brown eyes” that provide comfort just when it’s needed. There’s no denying the tenderness between this lab-coat-wearing girl and her dog, but the cobbled-together, science-project nature of this canine isn’t exactly crowd-pleasing, something Spires seems to recognize; tacks, metal plates, and fur patches spring off of the dog’s body in one of the final scenes, leaving behind a (slightly) more conventional-looking misfit. Regardless, most readers will understand what Hughes and Spires are getting at—every dog, no matter how wonky or weird, is worthy of love. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agency: Painted Words.

November 15, 2015
In this Canadian import, a little girl speculates on the origins of her beloved pet dog, an endearing mutt with an unusual, mismatched configuration of body parts.The unnamed girl narrates the concise story about her female dog, which also remains unnamed. Both dog and child are appealing characters in the watercolor-and-ink illustrations, and it's refreshing to have two female protagonists and the little girl shown as a dark-skinned child with dark, curly hair. While the text clearly states that the dog was fashioned elsewhere by unknown creators, the illustrations show the girl creating the dog herself, attaching legs, paws, ears, and tail to a patched body. This disparity between text and illustrations leads to confusion, along with several other discrepancies that mar the overall effort. In one spread, the girl is in a shop that has dog parts for sale at a discount, pointing with a worried look at a sign that states "Brains 50%," but the corresponding text states that her dog already knows enough. The conclusion says that the dog's tail wags endlessly, but young readers will have noticed that the tail isn't wagging on previous or subsequent pages. And though the dog is pieced together from spare parts and glue, she is clearly alive. This story might spark some discussion, but it's likely to be in the form of questions trying to resolve logical issues and the incompatibility between text and illustrations. An unfortunate misalliance of story and illustrations. (Picture book. 3-6)

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January 1, 2017
A resourceful and intelligent girl wearing a lab coat explains the just-rightness of her lovable mutt's goofy parts, including an "odd, tubby, stubby body" ("perfect for cuddling") and "four spare unmatched paws" ("but they all work"). The short, descriptive read-aloud text complements Spires's friendly, cartoonish ink and watercolor illustrations, which are elevated by emotive facial expressions and well-balanced compositions.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)