If My Dad Were a Dog

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 30 APR. 2007

Tellis's slight debut picture book about a child/parent role reversal lacks the characterization, charm and developed plot of books with a similar theme. Although the bright primary colors surrounding the photographs of the brown Labrador dad are amusing, the humor inherent in the idea of a dog/father being bossed around by his child quickly wears thin. From feeding the dog to providing him with a shovel for his "daddy-doos" and taking him to the park, the exclamations often more closely resemble a series of scrapbook captions than a complete story. ("I'd teach him to dance like a butterfly queen," the narrator states, and the dog is pictured in a field of daisies rearing up like a stallion, wearing a pink bow on his tail, pink and purple butterfly wings and a yellow crown.) Vibrant cartoon drawings pair with somewhat less appealing photographs of the Labrador to create eye-catching illustrations, as if the dog had wandered on to a black-lined Blue's Clues set. Unfortunately, there's no central theme that coherently ties the pictures together, and even the ending (child and father sit on a chair reading this book together) doesn't provide a satisfying conclusion. Ages 4-8.