Mr. Scruff

by Simon James, Simon James (Illustrator)

Overview

A sweetly silly story of a little boy and a dog who make an unlikely (but perhaps perfect) pair.

Everyone knows that owners and their dogs belong together in a unique way. Polly belongs to Molly, Eric belongs to Derek, Berry belongs to Terry. But poor Mr. Scruff, alone in the rescue shelter, doesn’t belong to anyone. Then a boy named Jim walks in, and they seem to get along. Jim and Mr. Scruff don’t look anything alike, and their names certainly don’t rhyme, but they may end up belonging to each other just the same. From author-illustrator Simon James comes a warm, winning story about friendship and finding a home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536209358
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	440L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Simon James is an award-winning author and illustrator of many picture books, including George Flies South, Little One Step, and Leon and Bob, which was named a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year. Simon James lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

uthor/illustrator James does a marvelous job of creating a playful story about the serious idea of stepping outside the familiar in friendships—an idea stupendously amplified with his light-filled watercolor-and-ink illustrations, showing a grand diversity of people in a bustling city setting. Diversity in friendships is brought to happy, lively life in this effervescent picture book.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

James’s warm ink and watercolor illustrations capture the personalities and funny details about the canines and humans along with their unbreakable connections. Steeped with meaning (and metaphor), this seemingly simple tale offers new discoveries and insights with every read.
—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

★ 2019-07-24
Sometimes not matching is just right.

Molly, a brown-skinned child with curly hair, has Polly, a curly-haired brown poodle; and jowly dog Lawrence has jowly elderly white lady Florence; each pair is perfectly comfortable together, as well they might, being so similar in looks and name. But then there's poor Mr. Scruff, a large, unkempt dog at the dog rescue who has no one. That is, until Jim, a small child of color with interracial parents, picks out Mr. Scruff to be his dog. His parents have reservations; "He's so BIG, / and you're so small!" but Jim replies that Mr. Scruff "needs a home. / A place to call his very own. /… / And that's enough for me— / and Mr. Scruff," in the story's simple rhyming text. They hit it off. But now who should come into the dog rescue looking for a dog? Unkempt Mr. Gruff, a white man who seems like the perfect match for Mr. Scruff. But like Jim, Mr. Gruff isn't constrained by the familiar. He picks out a small, brown puppy for his companion, "the perfect / dog for him." Author/illustrator James does a marvelous job of creating a playful story about the serious idea of stepping outside the familiar in friendships—an idea stupendously amplified with his light-filled watercolor-and-ink illustrations, showing a grand diversity of people in a bustling city setting.

Diversity in friendships is brought to happy, lively life in this effervescent picture book. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews