Wellington's Rainy Day

by Carolyn Beck, Brooke Kerrigan (Illustrator)

Overview

It's a rainy day. Wellington is down in the dumps and can't resist the smell of his master's freshly made meatloaf. While his master snoozes, Welly devours every last bite. After he hides the empty pan, he eats the contents of the garbage can too. Honey, a sneaky kitty and Wellington's archenemy, threatens to tell on him. Welly's tummy begins to churn and out comes everything he has gobbled down. What a mess! But in this lively, rhyming picturebook, things have a way of turning out better than expected for Welly, and just this once he escapes being blamed for the missing meatloaf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459806443
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Carolyn Beck first learned about letters when she was five. Right away she liked them. They make interesting sounds, like the s-s-s-sneaky S, the punchy P and the bouncy B. And best of all, in bunches they make WORDS! (Carolyn also discovered numbers and liked them too, but that is another story.) Carolyn lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Brooke Kerrigan has loved drawing ever since she was a little girl, so it seemed only natural that she would grow up to be an artist. Of all her creative endeavors, illustrating children's books is her favorite. Brooke has illustrated over 10 picture books, including design-award-winning Fishermen Through&Through and the Blue Spruce honor book The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain. Born in Toronto, she currently lives with her husband in the French Alps.

Read an Excerpt

Wellington Wallaby Withers was most disgruntled.
Curled in his basket by the hearth, he groaned, "Fire's out, Master Horace. Can't bake my back."
Master Horace was asleep in his chair. Sn-ooo-re.
The maddening smell of freshly made meatloaf hung about the house. "But my bowl," Wellington said, "is empty." And, oh, how his nose smarted! Honey, that sour sneak of a cat, had swatted him again.

Editorial Reviews

"Readers will not be surprised at the high level of gross-out they will encounter in Wellington's Rainy Day...Fortunately for the readers, Brooke Kerrigan's soft-coloured illustrations help to mitigate the stomach-turning details of the story. The artist's depiction of the long-eared canine and his feline arch rival, Honey, are quite irresistible, and her detailed pastel pieces perfectly capture the humour and the irony of Beck's story...That warning aside, Wellington's Rainy Day should provide noisy enjoyment for the 4 to 8-year-old set...Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"Kerrigan's ink and watercolour illustrations add to the offbeat scatological humour...The snappy writing is full of wordplay and would be fun to read aloud—the gross parts are sure to get a reaction."

Resource Links

"The rhyme and rhythm of Carolyn Beck's text support the sweeping nature of Wellington's day....The details in Kerrigan's illustrations add charm and whimsy, and children will delight in looking for small details."

CanLit for Little Canadians blog

"This picture book's soft, endearing animal illustrations lull readers into a false sense of security, as the words tell a delightfully disgusting story."

Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media

"An interesting book that will appeal to a special audience...The gross factors are handled amazingly well."

BookLinx

*No details

The Horn Book Guide

PreS-Gr 3—Wellington is a peckish hound who lives with Honey, a cat, and Master Horace. During one of Horace's naps, Welly devours the meatloaf, burying the empty pan in Honey's litter box; drinks from the toilet; and swallows the contents of the kitchen garbage can. The two pets have a tumultuous relationship, and the cat is determined to expose Wellington; she even taunts him with threats of a dreaded bath. Master Horace awakens from his nap and takes the dog for a walk. When they return home, they discover that Honey has excavated the empty pan and is sitting in it on the hall rug. Wellington fears that his misdeed will be disclosed, but Master Horace reprimands the cat for eating the meatloaf and gives Wellington a bone for being a good dog. While there are references to past conflicts between the pets, some readers might be confused by the animosity these animals have for one another. The somewhat rambling text is peppered with gross-out incidents, such as Wellington emptying the contents of his stuffed belly and then licking up the mess. Kerrigan's comical, softly hued crayon and watercolor cartoon illustrations portray a seemingly clueless hound and a sneaky, fluffy orange cat. Readers looking for a better book about a dog and cat relationship may want to check out Peter McCarty's Hondo and Fabian (Holt, 2002).—Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI

School Library Journal

Beck's attempts to gross out readers continue with her latest, seemingly innocuous title, about a hungry dog.

Wellington's day is not going very well. The fire is out, his bowl is empty, his nose smarts from a scratch thanks to Honey the cat and his afternoon walk will be in the rain. And that meatloaf smell—it's too tempting to pass up. So, after a lengthy drink from the toilet, he devours his master's dinner...and the contents of the garbage can, which are described in all-too-vivid detail. As he lies belching, his arch-nemesis, Honey, takes the opportunity to torture him with threats of tattling. Welly's stomach just can't take it. With a great spew of synonyms and adjectives he vomits and then proceeds to lick it all up again. By the time he returns home from a rainy walk, he feels he is very deserving of punishment since he has ensured his master will be hungry. But when Honey gets the blame, his guilty feelings magically evaporate. Kerrigan's pencil-crayon and watercolor-wash illustrations portray a rather droll, floppy-eared dog and a spiteful cat. Thankfully, her artwork is not as detail-oriented as the text.

This is one for only the strong of stomach or Xtreme dog lovers.(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews