School Library Journal Review
| K-Gr 4-Tall tales this enjoyable are hard to find. Grizz Brickbottom, toughest cowboy in the West, yearns for a companion and convinces his cattle-rustling cohorts that they need a dog to help with the work. When the local saloon goes out of business, the proprietor puts up a sign offering a free dog to a good home. Unexpectedly, it's a miniature poodle named Foofy. Although the pup is afraid of cows and won't chase away mountain lions, she provides complete amusement for the cowpokes because she catches flying tin dinner plates in her mouth. Children will revel in the descriptive language ("Don't squat with your spurs on") and exaggerated metaphors and similes. Gross visual and verbal jokes abound ("S'not the point"). The oil-rendered paintings are spot-on renditions of the Wild West and will transport the audience to the Big Sky Country of the 1860s. Close-ups of faces are larger than life. Readers will return to this one again and again to catch all of the humor and nuances of both the text and illustrations. A strong first purchase that is suited to independent reading and sharing aloud.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Booklist Review
| Gr. 1-3. Grizz Brickbottom is tough all right. He flosses with barbed wire and drinks a quart of Tabasco sauce each day. But even the toughest cowboy gets a hankerin' fer some unconditional lovin,' so Grizz heads into town to get hisself . . . a dog! Course, this bein' a wacky kids' book, the dog he gets is . . . a miniature poodle. Well, sir, things is never the same on the once-wild frontier. Grizz's pardners--Chuck Wagon, Lariat, and Bald Mountain--may hoot 'n' holler, but before you can say "spit," they've been tamed, too. Pullen's outrageously rude pictures are a mix of cartoon and caricature, but like Frank's text, they owe a great debt to Mel Brooks' movie Blazing Saddles0 . Mercifully, Pullen's cowpokes don't eat beans around a campfire, but they sure do pick their noses a lot! --Michael Cart Copyright 2004 Booklist |
