Horse Meets Dog

by Elliott Kalan, Tim Miller (Illustrator)

Overview

“A wonderful read! You’ll never look at horses or dogs the same way again!” —Jon Stewart, former host of The Daily Show

Horse is just an oversize dog with funny paws…according to Dog. And Dog? Just a tiny baby horse with a weird tail. That’s what Horse thinks, anyway.

Television comedy writer Elliott Kalan and acclaimed illustrator Tim Miller team up in this clever comedy of mistaken species identity.

More praise for Horse Meets Dog:

“Horse meets Dog! Kalan meets Miller! Two great teams—one SO-DARN-FUNNY book! Go get it!” —Laurie Keller

“Horse Meets Dog is a sweet, wise, and genuinely ha-ha funny exploration of not just horse/dog relations (historically strained), but also of friendship and difference.” —John Hodgman, author of Vacationland

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062791108
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	749,826
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Elliott Kalan has written for the TV shows Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Who Was? Show, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as well as comic books like Spider-Man and the X-Men. He is the author of Horse Meets Dog and Sharko and Hippo. He lives with his wife and two sons in Los Angeles.

Tim Miller is an author and illustrator of children’s books who lives in New Jersey with his wife and three rescue cats. His picture books include Izzy Paints; Tiny Kitty, Big City; Moo Moo in a Tutu; and What’s Cooking, Moo Moo? He has also illustrated the picture books Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan, Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) and Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever! (Probably) by Julie Falatko, Margarash by Mark Riddle, and the middle grade series Hamstersaurus Rex by Tom O'Donnell. You can visit Tim online at timmillerillustration.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/06/2018
Self-centered much? Horse is convinced that Dog is an infant horse—a “wittle cutie tiny baby” horse—and patronizes him accordingly. Dog thinks that Horse is a gargantuan dog with “weird feet.” Neither stops to consider that there might be species other than their own, and the miscommunication only continues as they try to patch things up: Horse gets “Tiny Baby” a miniature saddle “in case a tiny person wants to ride you,” and Dog gets “Big Pal” a ball to chase. Kalan, who has written for The Daily Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Marvel Comics, makes a terrific picture book debut, moving the wonderfully narcissistic dialogue along quickly as these two huge—and hugely mistaken—egos battle it out (“ ‘Tiny baby horse!’ ‘Very big dog!’ ”). Miller (Moo Moo in a Tutu), essentially charged with chronicling a comedy sketch, embraces the challenge by drawing Horse as a preening ovoid with stick legs and fabulous hair, and Dog as a belligerent series of sharp angles. He equips both with a repertoire of opera buffa gestures and expressions (utter disdain! indignation!) to great effect. Ages 4–8. Author’s and illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A wonderful read! You’ll never look at horses or dogs the same way again!” — Jon Stewart

“Horse Meets Dog is a sweet, wise, and genuinely ha-ha funny exploration of not just horse/dog relations (historically strained), but also of friendship and difference.”  — John Hodgman

“Horse meets Dog! Kalan meets Miller! Two great teams – one SO-DARN-FUNNY book! Go get it!” — Laurie Keller

“A terrific picture book debut, moving the wonderfully narcissistic dialogue along quickly as these two huge—and hugely mistaken—egos battle it out.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

Horse Meets Dog is a sweet, wise, and genuinely ha-ha funny exploration of not just horse/dog relations (historically strained), but also of friendship and difference.” 

John Hodgman

Horse meets Dog! Kalan meets Miller! Two great teams – one SO-DARN-FUNNY book! Go get it!

Laurie Keller

A wonderful read! You’ll never look at horses or dogs the same way again!

Jon Stewart

Horse meets Dog is not only hilarious, but important. It’s the book you break out to teach kids understanding and acceptance.

Drew Daywalt

11/01/2018

K-Gr 2—In Daily Show writer Kalan's funny tale of misunderstandings, Horse and Dog get each other birthday presents: Horse gets Dog a tiny saddle ("Someone sits on you, and you take them wherever they want to go. Fun!"), and Dog returns the favor with a ball for playing fetch ("This is my favorite game! For obvious reasons!"). In a twist that will buck grown-up readers' expectations, the two don't develop empathy and walk off into the sunset; instead, the last page sees a new friend join the muddle, a bird who thinks Dog and Horse are both weird-looking birds. The easy, short sentences make this great for beginning readers; they will find Miller's (Snappsy the Alligator) expressive animal cartoons a hoot, too. VERDICT Fans of Snappsy and of Mo Willems's Pigeon will enjoy these overly confident creatures and their goofy obliviousness.—Henrietta Verma, Credo Reference, Jackson Heights, NY

School Library Journal

2018-07-24

An interspecies encounter confuses two four-legged creatures.

Dog meets Horse and extols dogginess. Horse, in return, applauds horsiness. Dog likes to play fetch with a ball, while Horse loves to groom its mane. Neither can grasp that the other is a member of a different species. Horse expresses confusion at Dog's small stature, and Dog, in turn, cannot understand how Horse can be so tall. They butt heads in their shared state of confusion, sure to increase exponentially when, on the final two pages, Bird flies into the picture. Kalan tells his little tale entirely in speech bubbles, with uppercase type used to express the animals' raised voices. Miller's illustrations are executed in pen and ink and "digital hocus-pocus." They portray critters with sharp angles and exaggerated heads against a green lower background (for grass) and a blue upper background (for sky). Horse is gray and Dog is yellow; both are outlined in black with very big eyes. Some humorous moments grace the story, as when Horse tries to feed "Tiny Baby" Dog with a hay-filled bottle and gifts him with a size-appropriate saddle. However, an ending with mutual understanding and a blossoming friendship is absent.

Animals so familiar and often so beloved to children start and end their conversation in bewilderment, which may lead to the same feeling among listeners. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews