barnesandnoble.com
Caldecott medalist Marc Simont proves once again that he is the quintessential children's storyteller with his latest effort, The Stray Dog. Simont borrows from a true story and turns it into a delightful and beguiling tale of one family's adventures with a stray dog they encounter in a park. While picnicking in the country, this city-living family finds and plays with a dog they name Willy. Thinking the dog might belong to someone, they leave it behind when it's time to return home. But the entire family thinks about him throughout the week to come. When they return the following weekend and find Willy again roaming the park -- this time with the dogcatcher in hot pursuit -- they claim Willy as their own and bring him home.
Simont's tale is a deceptively understated and heartwarming story of love, giving, and family -- a family whose definition and makeup is subject to change. There's plenty of humor to be found, too, primarily in Simont's beguiling and splashy watercolor illustrations where the subtleties ignored in the text spring to life. The front fly page is a good example, boasting a simple picture of Willy's tail-wagging back half while his front end is buried inside a large bag of trash. And later, when the quick-thinking boy in the family donates his belt to use as a collar, he's shown struggling to keep his pants up while his sister (who donated a hair ribbon to use as a leash) frolics and plays with the family's newest member.
--Beth Amos
Horn Book
This picture book has all the earmarks of a classic...Overarching shape, knowledge of audience, small details—Simont gets it all right.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Simont's art possesses its usual deceptive ease and friendly watercolor fluidity. . . . will have pooch-loving kids investigating every park with hope and determination.
Karen Carden
The Stray Dog, by Marc Simont, was 15 years in the making - and well worth the wait. It's based on a true account of a family that finds a dog they can't forget. When they discover the authorities consider it a stray, the family adopts the little pooch and saves him from the dog catcher. This heartwarming story comes alive in Simont's lean, expressive text and his engaging illustrations. Despite its simplicity, the tale evokes a range of emotions that will feel genuine to any young reader.
— The Christian Science Monitor
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
In this slender but engaging volume, Caldecott Medalist Simont (A Tree Is Nice) retells and illustrates a true story told to him by a friend. Picnicking in the country, a family spies a friendly dog. The brother and sister play with him and even name him, but their parents will not let them take Willy back to their city home. "He must belong to somebody," their mother explains, "and they would miss him." Returning to the same spot the following weekend, they once again see Willy, this time being chased by a dog warden who deems him a stray: "He has no collar. He has no leash." In the tale's most endearing scene, the boy removes his belt and the girl her hair ribbon, which they identify to the warden as Willy's collar and leash: "His name is Willy, and he belongs to us." Simont's art and narrative play off each other strategically, together imparting the tale's humor and tenderness. The final scenes are simple gems of understatement and wit. "They took Willy home" accompanies a full-bleed picture of the children energetically and messily bathing the dog; "And after that... they introduced him to the neighborhood, where he met some very interesting dogs" captions a busy scene of a park full of pooches. A charmer. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-Based on a friend's experience adopting a stray dog, Marc Simont has written and illustrated a gentle book (HarperCollins, 2001) about a stray that finds a loving home. When the family first saw Willy they played with him, but left him behind. The next week he was there again, however, and they saved him from the dog-catcher and brought him home with them. The story is simple, yet elegant. It speaks to the child in every reader. The narrator, William Dufris, creates different voices for each character. Light background music and the occasional barking dog sound effect add to the production. Considerable time is given between page-turn signals, perhaps so that readers have time to enjoy the illustrations. Listeners can hear the narrator turning the pages of his book before the official "page-turn signal" occurs. Despite this minor quibble, this is a sweet book that children will enjoy listening to as they read along.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
