Dog Blue

This is a sweet, simple book about a boy who wants (and gets!) a dog. It's perfect for the little boy or girl who loves dogs. I thought the high points of the story are that the boy makes the best of what he has and is grateful even though his dog isn't blue colored, and also that he takes good care of his dog. Good lessons for young kids.

Young Bertie loves blue and he loves dogs. In the best of all scenarios, he'd combined his two loves and have a blue dog! The color blue is easy. Bertie has a blue sweater, blue shoes, and a blue collar. Blue dogs are at all not easy. In fact, getting a dog of any color is not easy, so Bertie just pretends he has one. As nimble and imaginative a toddler as you'll meet, Bertie walks and feeds his dog, and "he threw a stick for his pretend blue dog. But pretend dogs don't fetch sticks. So Bertie fetched the stick himself." He also scratches, sniffs, and chases his tail as a blue dog would. Polly Dunbar's soft illustrations make Bertie seem talented and sweet, rather than foolish. His rosy cheeks and sheer joy at "being the dog" expresses the simple joy of playing-at-something. Bertie's physical and imaginative activity is interrupted by reality: An actual dog that needs an "owner." Bertie, who tends to think in absolutes, slightly recoils and cries when he realizes that the "perfect" dog is not blue. Dunbar's background turns from an innocent, happy yellow to a thoughtful, grey-blue, full of shadowy doubt and complexity. Bertie, in a stroke of simple genius, makes the dog blue, by making the dog.... "Blue!" Bertie and Blue, now on yellow-backed pages, make a "perfect pair!" Bertie learned to expand his schema of the "perfect dog" to accommodate non-blue dogs named "Blue," and Blue, just happy to have the love of a boy like Bertie, accommodates the latter's play idea. "Bertie took Blue for a walk. Blue took Bertie for a walk. Bertie fed Blue. Blue sniffed Bertie... Blue really loves Bertie. Bertie really loves Blue. Especially when... [next page] it's Bertie's turn to fetch." There is such a feeling of freely given love in this book that it takes a few reading to appreciate it. Bertie's conditional love, common to toddlers and adults alike, turns unconditional when he accepts the dog. The dog will never be blue, just as kids and adults may never meet their idealized companion. Yet, Bertie opens his heart to the dog, and in his eyes, he is as true a blue as he could hope to find." If this were the days of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," the book would be a potential best seller for adults. The book makes no such claims or pretensions. It's a humorous, clever, and warm illustration of love for toddlers, and it's perhaps a parable for adults, all in the form of a simply told and simply illustrated kids' book.

Dog Blue is the story of Bertie, who loved the color blue, and dreamed of owning a blue dog that would go with his blue sweater, blue shoes and blue dog collar. Bertie longed so for a blue dog that he pretended patting, feeding, walking and playing fetch with his imaginary dog. He even yapped like a dog and that's when a dog yapped back and he met his dream for real. But his dream dog didn't turn out quite as he imagined. Bertie decides to adjust his dream to accept the ways his real dog differs from his expectations. Readers enjoy a clever plot plus a wise lesson. Polly Dunbar's cartoon-like pencil and watercolor illustrations set Bertie alone on a yellow page as he develops his dream dog. Upon meeting his dog the background turns blue while Bertie works through adjusting his dream. Once the plot turns out Bertie and his dog are again on a yellow background. In her simple drawings the reader may sense we are experiencing Bertie's inner vision of his dream. Changing background colors signals entering and leaving a transition period. Dog Blue uses the simplest art and text to trace the course of a desire, a dream, and a decision in a subtle and profound way. It is also good fun. For children from two to five.

An uplifting simple book for children over 2. The simple story line, happy characters, and warm ending provide a great story or night time before bed book. A story of how a boy who loves dogs finds his perfect cannine partner and the fun they have together provides some good laughs. Nice artistry, well written, and short (5 minutes). Dog Blue quickly became a favorite for my 3 year old son. Highly recommended from a picky parent.