McDuff Comes Home

I frequently buy books for my granddaughters, ages two and four, and the McDuff books are real favorites of theirs. The illustrations are wonderful in all the McDuff books. These books are always picked by the girls for me to read. They love them.

(Note: This review refers to the 1997 hardcover edition written by Ms. Wells and illustrated by Ms. Jeffers.) The McDuff series lovingly recreates a small New England town of the late 1940''s or early `50's. The frontispiece shows a neighborhood of gables two and three-story house, some with curved roofs, masonry, and picket fences, all with tall chimneys nearly touching the treetops. It's immediately welcoming. When we meet a cute (!), big-eyed, white terrier-like dog, our hearts are completely won over. McDuff is a dog's dog: He's got a nose for food, a watchful eye, and he's full of terrier energy. However, when the kitchen window is closed one day, he discovers he can't bask on his Adirondack chair and savor the usual "snappy scent of Fred's frying sausages, the velvety smell of Lucy's vanilla rice pudding." (In a book set in the post-war era, I wonder if this is a thinly veiled reference to Fred Mertz and Lucille Ricardo...). On a day without those distractions, McDuff notices a large brown rabbit, and he chases it, losing his collar, and finally collapsing in a cozy vegetable patch--just the spot for a snooze. The garden owner heads for the police station with the lost dog in her motorcycle sidecar--another wonderful touch--but McDuff's "woofs" guide them back to his home instead. Here, Fred and Lucy serve a lavish 1950's lunch: Period dishes piled high with apple pie, perhaps a dozen thick sandwiches, an entire ham, and various cheeses and dessert. McDuff, looking very content, sits in his Adirondack, about to eat a favorite treat, "a small dish of vanilla rice pudding with a sausage slice on top." Veteran writer Rosemary Wells (the "Max and Ruby" series) keeps things moving, and the story is neither too dense nor too blandly simple. Some writers seem to slap on contrived "funny" endings but Welles blends an unforced comic twist with an integrated, reassuring conclusion. Caldecott Honor winner Susan Jeffries' great sense of period style adds to the series' appeal. The colors are smooth and saturated, the contours rounded and inviting. The book exudes welcoming, friendly warmth. At one point, Jeffries takes chances with her youngest audience in a 2-page spread that shows a curving trail of repeated Cuffs and the rabbit meant to show the zigzagging trail of their chase. This may confuse some small fry, but it's a delightfully energetic scene, enjoyable on its own (and somewhat older kids will have little difficulty understanding an adult's explanation). This is a terrific book, with a masterful blend of active and soothing scenes to delight child and adult, both day and night.

I just wanted to point out that the synopsis of this book says that McDuff is a Yorkshire. He is clearly a West Highland White Terrier ("Westie"). Whatever you call him, though, McDuff's stories are wonderful.

My name is Ashley. My class has been reading a lot of books by Rosemary Wells and McDUFF COMES HOME is my favorite book. I loved the part in the book when McDuff went over the fence and saw a rabbit. It was so cute!

Another marvelous book by Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers. McDuff's adventures chasing a bunny rabbit are wonderfully captured in the illustrations. The drawings of the Westie McDuff are so realistic. A book for all children and any adults who love these special dogs.