Mush's Jazz Adventure

by Daniel Pinkwater, Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

Overview

Now that Mush — the talking, cooking, educated dog from space — is part of the Mangiaro household, Kelly wants to know more about the planet Growf-Woof-Woof, and how her dog came to Earth. When the two of them go on a picnic, (which Kelly prepares carefully under Mush's supervision), Kelly asks Mush about her past. "Well, it's such a long story," says Mush...and soon, Kelly is hearing about Mush's old jazz band, The Hot Animals, and how they dealt with robbers who threatened to knock over their boss's jive joint!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689845727
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Series:	Ready-for-Chapters
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	4.80(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater is the author of several bestselling children's
books as well as a popular commentator on National Public Radio. He writes
regular reviews on Contentville.com. Daniel lives in Hyde Park, New York.

Read an Excerpt

Now that Mush — the talking, cooking, educated dog from space — is part of the Mangiaro household, Kelly wants to know more about the planet Growf-Woof-Woof, and how her dog came to Earth. When the two of them go on a picnic, (which Kelly prepares carefully under Mush's supervision), Kelly asks Mush about her past. "Well, it's such a long story," says Mush...and soon, Kelly is hearing about Mush's old jazz band, The Hot Animals, and how they dealt with robbers who threatened to knock over their boss's jive joint!

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2-4-This beginning chapter book features a cooking, saxophone-playing, talking, alien dog who takes care of her owner, Kelly, while the child's parents are at work. On her home planet of Growl-Woof-Woof, where Man is Dog's best friend, Mush had a little girl as a pet. Explaining to Kelly how she happened to land on Earth (her spaceship ran out of gas and crash-landed), Mush launches into a story reminiscent of the "Traveling Musicians," in which she meets up with a donkey, a cat, and a chicken. They form a band and make their way to Chicago, where they play at Tutti Frutti's Pleasure Palace. Here they frighten a band of robbers and save the dance hall's owner from the thieves. The story, told in first person by Kelly and then Mush, is fast paced and funny and full of total improbabilities-a good bet for capturing the interest of beginning, or reluctant, young readers. Sketchy, black-and-white cartoon illustrations, many full page, pepper the text.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

Pinkwater continues the adventures of Mush, the cooking, talking, and highly intelligent mushamute dog from the planet Growf-Woof-Woof. Mush is teaching his friend, the narrator Kelly, how to cook. The two friends are in the woods sharing a small picnic lunch in the park when Kelly asks Mush to tell the story of how he came to Earth. In familiar Pinkwater fashion, Mush tells the hilarious story of taking a little excursion, getting lost in the solar system, running out of gas, and crashing into Earth. Mush’s story begins to resemble the familiar story of the Bremen Town Musicians when he befriends musicians of all sorts, from a banjo-playing cat to a trombone-blaring donkey to a sweet-singing chicken. Simple line drawings inform the wild story. Readers will enjoy this light journey to the jazz clubs of Chicago, where the animals overhear a dastardly plot by men with "loud and tasteless" neckties. Generous white space surrounding the short paragraphs and a quick-moving plot make this a winner for the new reader with an off-beat sense of humor. Best of all, Mush promises many more stories to come. (Fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews