A Commanding Performance

It's no secret that communicating with canines can be challenging until several things start to happen.  Humans need to understand how dogs sense the world.  Dogs need to convey their comprehension of their observations.  We can watch their body language, listen to the volume and kind of bark and their response to our verbal language.  It's a balance forging a lasting bond.

Two years ago almost to a day readers met Bella, Ben and Bella's dog in This book just ate my dog! written and illustrated by Richard Byrne.  The book in question has a very distinct behavior problem not entirely solved by the final page.  A companion title, We're in the wrong book!, followed a year later.  Bella and Ben are enjoying jumping from one page to the next, when Bella's dog bumps them into another book.  The duo can't seem to find their way back to the correct title until an unusual encounter in a very, scary book.   This book is out of control! (Henry Holt and Company, October 4, 2016) is the final title in the trilogy.  Bella's dog is responding to commands out of his usual sensory expertise.

Bella was at home when 

someone on the other page

knocked at the door.

It was Ben.

He had a new toy to show Bella.

Ben's new toy fire truck was operated by remote control.  After Bella stepped outside closing the door, Ben pressed the UP button.  The ladder on the truck was supposed to go up.  It did not.  Nothing happened at all. Or did it?

On the opposite page inside the house, Bella's dog was rudely awakened when he and his dog dish were lifted into the air.  Ben decided to try another button, SPIN.  The results of this choice had Bella's dog looking like he was being tumbled in a dryer at an extreme speed.  To Ben and Bella it appeared the remote was still not working.

It wasn't until a fourth button was pushed the duo made the connection.  The remote was operating Bella's dog not the toy truck. You could say that Bella's dog was giving voice to the current predicament.  

Of the ten buttons on the remote Ben decided to try a fifth button as Bella's dog was stuck...on the ceiling.  YIKES!  That most definitely was not the answer to the current crisis.  Bella made an appeal.  Ben made an appeal.  Each attempt made the dilemma go from crazy to absolutely wacky.  It seemed the characters were doomed.  When out of the mess a voice of reason made a request.  If you want normalcy, it all depended on who held the remote.

Simple, straightforward sentences may seem to be stating the obvious but they are appropriately charged with possibilities.  This is how Richard Byrne builds anticipation.  It also allows for the contrast in the likely results and the actual outcomes to begin.  What you expect is not what you get!

The mix of narrative, dialogue and the visual of the remote control with the ten labeled buttons move the action along at a rapid pace.  Readers can't wait to see what will happen next. When they are invited to participate hilarity heightens.  

One of the first things readers are sure to notice on the opened dust jacket is that Bella on the left, the back, and Ben on the front are standing upside down at the top of the illustration.  The rather surprised expressions on their faces are a prelude to the events within the book.  On the back the text reads:

This book 

is having an

EMERGENCY!

It's UP to you to

calm things DOWN.

The book case is a duplicate of the jacket without any text.  A bright spring green and white are used on the opening and closing endpapers.  The illustration is designed to replicate a board game which will be easily recognized.  Each of the squares is numbered with Ben's home at one end and Bella's home at the other end. There is a noticeable difference in the two endpapers.  

Byrne begins to tell the story with his first illustration spanning the verso and title pages. Ben is walking down Bella's Street carrying the box with his new toy fire truck. Each image in the book spans page edge to page edge.  They are designed so the door to Bella's home falls in the gutter.  In this way the reader is looking inside her home and outside her home at the same time.

Splashes of red, the dog's collar and water dish, the top of Bella's hat and her shoes, the fire truck and remote control and the text, pop in contrast to Bella's dog inside her home and the street scene with Bella and Ben.  Careful readers will be rewarded by noticing tiny details; the leaking fire hydrant, the glass bottles outside Bella's home with a note tucked in one, and Bella's dog opening one eye after the door is slammed.  This is preparation for the comedy to come.

One of my favorite illustrations is when Bella and Ben discover her dog is talking after Ben pushes the VOICE button.  The dog, hanging from the ceiling, is opening the door with a free paw uttering the title text along with a cry of help.  In this particular picture Byrne has the speech bubble in red with white lettering.  The looks on Bella's and Ben's faces are of total disbelief.  The remote control, it should be noted, is the same size as the truck.  

This book is out of control! written and illustrated by Richard Byrne is as humorous as the two previous titles.  It surely will produce numerous laugh-out-loud moments as readers try to help the characters.  Not only does it invite participation during the reading of the book but it opens the door to other activities, creative drama and "what-if" writing related to the pushing of buttons on a remote control. 

To learn more about Richard Byrne and his other work please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  You can view four interior illustrations at the publisher's website.  

An Appetite For Anything And Everything

Most people who have been chosen by canine companions can attest to quickly learning to keep their pals close at all times.  Otherwise you and your friend might be taking a tomato juice bath after a close encounter with a skunk or making an emergency visit to the vet to remove porcupine quills looking like acupuncture gone wrong.  It's important to observe leash laws at all times to protect our dogs from vehicles, other dogs and a multitude of other potential problems their noses might lead them into within seconds.

I am here to warn all humans who love their furry friends to beware of a heretofore unheard of hazard.  This book just ate my dog! (Henry Holt and Company, September 30, 2014) written and illustrated by Richard Byrne reveals the consequences of getting too close to a badly behaved book.  You will need to keep a wary eye on those stacks and shelves in book shops, libraries and even in your own home.

WALKIES!
LET'S GO!
Bella was taking her dog for a stroll across the page when...

Wait a minute!  You have got to be kidding me!  Bella's dog has all but disappeared into the gutter of this book.  Yes, I am talking about the very book I am holding in my hands right this minute.

Now all that's left is a very taunt leash Bella is struggling to hold.  Balloon-holding Ben comes meandering down the page.  Bella shouts out the horrible news.  One curious boy has vanished.  This can't be good.

To Bella's delight in the nick of time the dog rescue truck roars into view...and then it disappears too.  It happens again and again.  No one, nothing, is safe near this book.  Stella decides to take matters into her own hands.  Now what? I am holding a book void of characters and objects that has just burst forth with the most revolting noise.

Incredulous to say the least, I am further surprised when an envelope pops out of the center.  It's a written request from Bella asking me to perform a specific task over and over and over and over and once more.  I would like to report everything is currently perfectly perfect, but I can't.


I'll wager there's not a single school librarian who has not received a book returned after it's been partially consumed by a family dog.  Using a minimal amount of text, Richard Byrne completely switches this scenario with hilarious results. His use of words creates an appropriate atmosphere;

very odd
disappeared
investigate
zoomed
vanished.

There is a back and forth rhythm put into place.  Initially it cautiously invites readers to participate.  A single sentence or portions of a sentence (with the exception of the note) are the only text on a page supplying flawless pacing.  It leads them to the wholly unexpected burst-out-laughing ending.


Removing the dust jacket and lifting the flaps, readers are treated to an illustration spanning left to right across the back and front.  A very surprised Bella is leading her dog.  On the back we read:

Wanted.
Nice reader
to show this
naughty book
who's boss.
Please help! 


The flap on the left shows a smaller version of Bella.  On the right we see the rear section, tail and two legs, of her dog.  Beneath the jacket, the book case in the corresponding vivid turquoise blue has a single sentence printed repeatedly,

I promise not to be a naughty book

Opening and closing endpapers feature outlines, white on pale blue, of the emergency vehicles.  They are identical with a glaring exception which I will not reveal.  The verso and title page picture begins the story with the sleeping dog being called for a walk.

Straight wide brush strokes in gray and tan are a backdrop for the full color portrayals of the characters and trucks.  Red is used for the text, leash, and as a major color or accent on the other elements.  The smallest lines for eyes, noses and mouths serve to feature contentment, shock, fear, good cheer, bewilderment, joy, anger, surprise and relief.  Careful readers will notice all the tiny details.

One of my favorite illustrations is the first one when the narrative begins.  Bella and her dog walking along the page are carefree and enjoying this activity together.  The dog's tail is wagging in pure pleasure.  This picture serves to introduce readers to the two main characters and sets the stage for the surprising contrasts ahead.


You can't read this title, This book just ate my dog!, written and illustrated by Richard Byrne without smiling the entire time, page after page.  I know with certainty when the last double-page illustration comes into view readers and listeners alike are going to roar with laughter.  The dog knows.  You know.  But Bella is blissfully unaware.  I recommend getting multiple copies.  Plan on a chorus of read it again when the cover is closed.

To visit Richard Byrne's official website please follow the link embedded in his name.  If you are like me, after reading this title I know I need to read more of his work.  Here is a link to a single page activity provided by the publisher.

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group has graciously agreed to give away a copy of this book to one lucky winner.  Please complete the form below.  Good luck!