Dogku
With Audio Recording
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2.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A tale in haiku
of one adorable dog.
Let’s find him a home.
Wandering through the neighborhood in the early-morning hours, a stray pooch follows his nose to a back-porch door. After a bath and some table scraps from Mom, the dog meets three lovable kids. It’s all wags and wiggles until Dad has to decide if this stray pup can become the new family pet. Has Mooch finally found a home? Told entirely in haiku by master storyteller Andrew Clements, this delightful book is a clever fusion of poetry and puppy dog.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Clements (Lunch Money) cleverly combines haiku and an endearing canine protagonist in this jaunty tale, written primarily from the pooch's perspective. After the friendly creature arrives on the doorstep of a family's home, the mother lets him inside and tends to his needs: "First food, then a bath./ The food was a lot more fun./ Still, it all feels good." As the animal happily accepts scraps at the breakfast table, an important topic surfaces: "A dog needs a name./ Rags? Mutt? Pooch? No, not Rover./ Mooch. Yes, Mooch! Perfect." The pup is bored when the kids go off to school and their mother is outdoors gardening, but Mooch soon finds a solution ("Chew on dirty socks./ Roll around in week-old trash./ Ahhh... that's much better"). Sitting in on a family meeting, Mooch mistakenly overhears the word "pound" and is fretful when the father drives off in his car. But the new pet is overjoyed when the man returns with propitious purchases: "A new doggy bed!/ Food, a bowl, a squeaky toy!/ Mooch has found his home." Never forced, Clements's nimbly crafted verse flows freely and delivers ample humor. Bowers's animated oil paintings comically capture the playful pup's antics, revealing Mooch in the tub, eagerly shaking water and suds all over the mother; smiling while riding in the car, his head stuck out the window; and half submerged in the overturned garbage can. A spirited demonstration of the versatility and fun of haiku. Ages 4-8.
