A little dog keeps changing his story about who broke the
vase, from an elephant to a mouse, a crow, a sheep, a baby. When a voice off
the page reminds him that they don't have a baby, he changes his story once
again to blame a hippo. When he is asked directly if he broke the vase, he owns
up to it. Of course, who would believe a baby or any of those other animals had
anything to do with it? Having told the truth, he gets to play ball with the
bigger dog who then accidentally throws the ball through a window and directly
toward another vase. The bigger dog then starts telling a story about a huge
grasshopper jumping too high...
The little dog is depicted throughout as a black silhouette
with popping round white eyes, as are all the other animals, the baby in a
carriage, and the larger dog. The bold primary color of the background changes
on each spread and only a few details are added to the pictures, such as the
flowers in the white vases, the crow's beak, and the ball that keeps getting
away. The last spread is wordless and shows the little dog with his hands
turned out to his sides in a shrug. The larger dog, presumably the adult in the
story, is now guilty of the same dishonesty he/she was not willing to accept
from the little dog. Though the illustrations are cute enough, the hypocrisy of
the larger dog is not. I don't think the message of this book makes it one
worth spending limited funds on.
EL (K-3) - NO. Reviewer: P. K. Foster, MLS, Teacher-Librarian
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