My Dog Jack Is Fat

by Eve Bunting, Michael Rex (Illustrator)

Overview

With dialogue, thought bubbles, and colored-pencil drawings, Eve Bunting and Michael Rex have created an amusing story about staying healthy. When Carson takes his dog, Jack, to the vet for his annual check-up, he discovers that Jack is overweight. The vet gives Carson a list of things to do to help his dog lose weight. But as Jack diets, exercises, and sheds pounds, Carson snacks and gains weight. By the end of the book, Jack is thin and Carson is fat!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761458098
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	01/05/2012
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.20(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Eve Bunting is the author of more than 100 books for young readers. She has won the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers, the PEN Los Angeles Center Literary Award for Special Achievement in Children’s Literature, and the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Her picture book, Smoky Night, was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2000. She lives in Pasadena, California, with her husband.

Michael Rex attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City and now successfully writes and illustrates children’s books, including the New York Times best-seller Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody. He currently lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and is the president, founder, and sole member of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Star Wars Appreciation Society. Learn more: www.michaelrex.com

Editorial Reviews

When Carson takes his dog, Jack, to the vet, she informs them that Jack is too fat: "He needs less food and no snacks!" as well as a lot more exercise. Jack expresses his skepticism via thought bubble ("Fat chance"), though Carson dutifully starts Jack on a diet and exercise regimen. But Carson isn't practicing what he preaches: while Jack plays fetch, runs up stairs, and visits the gym, Carson is wolfing down junk food and lazing around. Throughout, readers are privy to Jack's snarky retorts: "You've got spaghetti sauce all over your face, pal," he tells Carson, who won't share his enormous dinner. A return visit to the vet means kudos for Jack—but not for Carson, who now needs help from Jack in the weight-loss department. Rex has a lot of fun with the details in his cartoon illustrations (Carson sits in the grass eating fried chicken and drinking soda while "playing" fetch with Jack), and the dog's-eye-view perspective (and Jack's evident sense of humor) help make a potentially heavy-handed message about child obesity easier to swallow. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 2—When the vet tells Carson that his dog needs to lose weight, neither the boy nor his pet is happy. But they set to work, and before long Jack's changes in diet and exercise start paying off. Unfortunately, Carson supervises all of the pup's hard work while lolling around and eating junk food, with predictable results. Can he bear to hear some hard news about himself? This appealing take on a common problem has understated, smooth writing and colorful, digitally rendered cartoons enlivened by Rex's characteristic humor. While both author and illustrator have done better work in books not as message-driven as this, many libraries will find this title a useful addition.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

Good intentions don't compensate for a heavy-handed approach in this latest effort to teach kids about the perils of obesity. Bunting's brief text plays out primarily in simple declarative sentences that appear as dialogue, thought balloons and the occasional description of straightforward action. When freckle-faced Carson takes his dog to the vet, she points out that Jack is too heavy and prescribes more exercise and less food. For some inexplicable reason, while Jack slims down, Carson bulks up on pizza, soda pop and the like, so that by the end of the month he's the one in need of intervention. Rex's flat, cartoon-style illustrations emphasize the blunt, unadorned style of the text but do little to flesh out the cardboard characters. Bright colors and whimsical details, such as Carson's bone-patterned shirt or Jack's ridiculous romp on a treadmill, do add some visual humor but not enough to lighten the overall effect. Carson's sad self-examination as he's dressed only in tighty-whiteys seems decidedly overdone, while his wordless conversion to a bike-riding calorie burner on the final page belies the truth suggested in earlier illustrations—that fast food bears much of the blame for the current epidemic of obesity. Skip this didactic drivel and skip rope instead. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

Good intentions don't compensate for a heavy-handed approach in this latest effort to teach kids about the perils of obesity. Bunting's brief text plays out primarily in simple declarative sentences that appear as dialogue, thought balloons and the occasional description of straightforward action. When freckle-faced Carson takes his dog to the vet, she points out that Jack is too heavy and prescribes more exercise and less food. For some inexplicable reason, while Jack slims down, Carson bulks up on pizza, soda pop and the like, so that by the end of the month he's the one in need of intervention. Rex's flat, cartoon-style illustrations emphasize the blunt, unadorned style of the text but do little to flesh out the cardboard characters. Bright colors and whimsical details, such as Carson's bone-patterned shirt or Jack's ridiculous romp on a treadmill, do add some visual humor but not enough to lighten the overall effect. Carson's sad self-examination as he's dressed only in tighty-whiteys seems decidedly overdone, while his wordless conversion to a bike-riding calorie burner on the final page belies the truth suggested in earlier illustrations—that fast food bears much of the blame for the current epidemic of obesity. Skip this didactic drivel and skip rope instead. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews - Kikus Reviews