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CM . . .
. Volume XVI Number 32. . . .April 23, 2010
excerpt:
Sharon Jennings and Ashley Spires� imaginative collaboration, C�mere, Boy! is a fun story about a young dog who wants a pet boy. The playful variation on the traditional �boy wants a dog� theme will appeal to young children who want a pet of their own and will likely tickle the funny bone of parents whose resistance is gradually being worn down by their children�s constant pleas of �please, please, please.� Dog�s search for a boy to call his own is not without its dramas and dangers. Eventually, when things look to have taken a turn for the worse, Dog finds a boy to his liking. In this book, there is much that is well done; however, I was distracted by a change that occurs partway through. In the early pages, the book seems set in a dog�s world. As described above, the illustrations include depictions of the decorated interior of a doghouse. Dog and his mother create a shopping list, and there is an illustration of the interior of a dog supermarket. Mama Dog pushes a shopping trolley alongside a well-stocked shelf of various packaged and tinned dog foods. As such, when Dog went to Obedience School, I expected that the teacher would be a dog. I found it confusing that the teacher is human. From that point forward, the book seems to change to one in which dogs are portrayed within a human world. The �Posh Pooch Spa� beauty salon workers are humans (attending to dogs), and a human dog catcher drives a vehicle. While I can accept the decorated interior of a doghouse (after all, how many of us have squeezed inside a doghouse to see what it looks like in there?), the dog supermarket scene seems not to be consistent with the rest of the book. As a reader, this was a distraction and, in reading ahead, I found myself thinking back and trying to figure out what I had interpreted as an inconsistency. I had another individual read the book and then asked her what she thought. She identified the same problem as I had, saying that it was a problem that the editor should have caught. She asked, �Just where is the dog supermarket supposed to be?� Despite this problem, C�mere, Boy! is a book that children and parents (and, perhaps, the family dog) will generally enjoy. Recommended with reservations. Gregory Bryan is a professor of children�s literature in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca. Copyright � the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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Jennings and Spires seem both to have active imaginations and well developed senses of humour. Spires� illustrations include depictions of the interior of a doghouse where a chewed-up shoe sits on the floor. Proudly mounted on the wall is a stick which appears to be ideal for playing �fetch.� The toy basket is overflowing with things like balls and bones and other such chew toys. In one outdoor scene, Dog�s mother is down on her knees, working in the garden with a hand trowel in a scene reminiscent of any of countless garden scenes that are played out across Canada during the growing season. What makes this scene different is that, rather than planting a flower bed or vegetable garden, Mama Dog is burying a bone. Not to be outdone for laughs, Jennings� text includes references to Dog teaching Boy �how to stoop and scoop� after Dog enjoyed a bathroom break. When Dog first met Boy, Dog nuzzled the boy�s hand, licked the boy�s face and, of course, �Dog sniffed Boy�s bum.� It is a funny book that demonstrates creativity, humour, and an interesting way of thinking about the relationships that we have with our pets.