Moondogs

by Daniel Kirk Narrated by Stuart Blinder

Overview

Young Willy has been watching them through his telescope, so he knows they're real. When his dad suggests he ought to have a pet, Willy builds a rocket just his size, and sets off on the adventure of a lifetime! Come along on a funny, fantastic voyage into space to look for the perfect pet. You'll be surprised to see what Willy brings home!

Editorial Reviews

Liza Woodruff

Avid astronomer Willy Joe Jehosephat can almost always be found either behind the moon-directed gaze of his telescope or in his room, which is filled with robots and space paraphernalia. When Will's worried father suggests a canine for a companion, Will knows just what he wants: "I'd like to get a moondog-that's the perfect pet for me." So Will builds a rocketship in the garage and heads for the moon. Halfway through the journey, he discovers that he has a stowaway-a "mangy mongrel" he names Scrappy (and hopes to unload on the moondogs). Upon their lunar landing, scads of colorful moondogs, some three-eyed, others two-headed, striped, plaid, or polka dotted, greet Will and Scrappy, who sulks as Will gazes over the crowd, preparing to choose a pet. A chase ensues when the man in the moon, truly grotesque with yellow, pocked skin, "hot and sour breath," and apparently sensitive ears, threatens to eat every noisy boy or dog he can catch. Brave and loyal Scrappy frees Will from the man's grip and finally gets some notice from Will. With a little encouragement from the moondogs, Will decides that the pet he truly wants has been under his nose the whole time. The smooth, rounded stylization of Kirk's oil paintings creates a fifties vision of a futuristic world that could be home to Sherman and Mr. Peabody. A rhyming text keeps the pages of the simple, buoyant story turning, while suitably sugary, clean colors give life to the fantastic moondogs, moonscape, and swirling starry skies. -- Horn Book Magazine

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-With a nice balance of pictures and rhyming text, Kirk takes readers on a satisfying flight to the moon. Young Will's parents, concerned that their son's only interest is space, think that he should have a pet. The boy agrees. However, he wants a moondog, and after building a rocket, he blasts off into the sky to find one. Unbeknownst to Will, but visible to sharp-eyed readers, a hungry, brown-haired mutt, who has slyly turned up in the earlier pages, sneaks onboard. Good thing, too, because when Will is captured by the man in the moon, a giant whose "breath was hot and sour," Scrappy comes to the rescue. Grateful, Will concurs with the moondogs he meets-this is his perfect pet-and the two head for home. A final picture finds them-Will in an astronaut suit, Scrappy clean and beribboned-looking at the stars through dual telescopes. Kirk's oil paints have a smooth, silky look that fits this science-fiction story and his bevy of colorful moondogs, with their multiple tails, eyes, heads, and legs, are a splendid complement. For Will, for Scrappy, for Kirk, and especially for his readers-mission accomplished.-Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

Kirkus Reviews

A deliberate sense of the absurd infuses Kirk's story of a boy and his dog with great humor and appeal. Young Willy Joe Jehosephat loves gazing at the moon through his telescope, but his parents want him to have a real playmate, a dog. Willy readily agrees-to a moondog, "the perfect pet for me./I watch them through my telescope./They're real, I guarantee!" After Willy builds a spaceship and is on his way to the Moon, he discovers a stowaway on board, a scrappy Earth mutt that Willy intends to leave in the care of the moondogs after he has made his selection. Once on the moon, Willy establishes contact with an enormous pack of moondogs, but also with a hideous moon man, who threatens to eat Willy. While the moondogs quake and quiver, the Earth mutt gives the moon man a good nip and sends him running. That's the dog for Willy. Questions of loyalty are obviously raised here, but Kirk's story allows for the pleasures of the here-and-now as well as acknowledging the dreams attached to distant stars. As always, the palette is robust and retro, with images that are invitingly participatory. (Picture book. 5-7) .

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169181586
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/20/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	Up to 4 Years

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