Me & Dog - Gene Weingarten (author), Eric Shansby (illustrator)


This is a story of a boy who loves his dog. And a dog who worships his boy. (Which can lead to misunderstandings.)

 Meet Sid. He's an ordinary kid. He's far from perfect. But to Murphy, Sid's faithful dog, Sid is the whole world. Murphy thinks Sid is the absolute best, and that he's in charge of everything.

 Sid loves Murphy right back, but he can't help but wonder what Murphy would think if he realized the truth: Sid's just a kid, and Murphy's just a dog, and neither one can control the world.
Though deceptively simple at first glance, Weingarten has written a story for children that dares to tread into the realm of existentialism and the possibility of a divine being. Sid and Murphy's relationship is used to mirror humanity's search for meaning in the world and beyond. The book starts of as a simple story of love between a boy and his dog, but eventually Sid begins to wonder: If he's not as powerful and omnipotent as Murphy thinks he is, then maybe there's nobody in charge of running the world for people? "I sometimes think there is no boss," thinks Sid, "that most thinks happen just . . . because."

 Shansby's illustrations are bold and colourful, but what he manages really well is facial expressions and body language. Sid's emotions vary from extremely happy to angry to despondent, and each time his face shows the emotion fully. Murphy's body language also works to great effect, bringing Weingarten's words to life and showing the full range of emotions shared by Sid and Murphy. Who would have guessed that an existential examination of whether or not God exists could translate to well into a children's picturebook.

 I'm sure there will be those who think the subject matter is too deep or that it's inappropriate (likely for religious reasons), but I think this is a great book to share with children, whether they are searching for meaning in life on their own already, or not!

 Highly Recommended

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius - Stacey Matson

Image
My name is Arthur Aaron Bean, but I normally just go by Arthur. I spent the summer at my grandparents' house in Balzac. It was a long summer. I actually live in one of the apartment buildings pretty close to the school. I like to knit and watch movies, sometimes at the same time. I'm a very good multi-tasker. I like creating writing, so I hope that we will do that and that I didn't miss it. I was probably the best writer in my elementary school, and I plan on getting rich as a novelist when I'm a grown-up. I don't have any siblings, but my cousin Luke is kind of like my twin brother. And thus begins the story of Arthur Bean, a wonderfully honest (if not slightly delusional) young boy writing a letter to his new teacher before attending school after being away for a time. Though really (and it's not just because I know her) the true genius in this book is the author herself. Arthur Aaron Bean is a totally real kid. He is multi-dimensional, full of exaggerat
Read more

The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

Image
Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm WAAAY behind on reviewing this title. But now that I've had a chance to get to some books that I want  to read as opposed to those that I have  to read, I had the chance to read this gorgeous book! In case you haven't heard about it everywhere (it just won this little award called the Newbery!), here's a synopsis, courtesy of the interwebz: "With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I'm delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood.   Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart
Read more

The Living - Matt De La Peña

Image
The Living  recently received an Honor from the Pura Belpré committee. The award recognizes of a work which best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. As I was at the awards announcements, and having known people who served on the committee in the past, I was intrigued. I had read the winning title and the other honor titles, and was impressed with the choices. So here's my review of The Living : The novel begins with Shy, a young guy working for a snazzy cruise line, offering water to people on the Lido Deck of the ship to combat the heat. Everything is going pretty well until an older gentleman comes out and starts spouting of weird, disconcerting phrases: "You have seen the face of evil."Shy doesn't quite know what to think, so he moves on to a couple of ladies on the other side of the deck. Just as he's handing them their water bottles, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and realizes the old guy h
Read more