Chowder

Interesting fact about me:  I would rather eat dog food than put a spoonful of clam chowder in my mouth.  Discuss. 

THREE PROS

*Peter Brown offers up a very nice story about a misfit canine that is only made better by some extremely impressive illustration  

*Chowder's humanistic tendencies are adorable, but my personal fave was having him go all paleontologist on his rawhide bones while the other dogs looked on dumbfounded
*The sheep really caught my eye -- how Brown got them to look like q-tips with black heads and stick legs amazes me every time I open the book 

THREE CONS 

*If I had to create a top ten list of things not to demonstrate to young children, I think jumping out of a window to get something in a tree would be somewhere around number eight 
*I support Brown's decision to make the Wubbingtons as quirky as Chowder; I do not, however, support a single hair he drew on Mr. W's body 

*Mrs. W is pictured three times and appears slightly different to me in each instance

ONE DAD'S OPINION
So many positive reviews of late, it's starting to make me think I have been too easy on recent authors.  Oh wait...given my mood over the last few weeks (thanks to dealing almost daily with my contractor and my refinancing bank), there's just no way I can be feeling charitable toward anyone.  Phew!  My journalistic integrity remains in tact!!  With a clear conscience, I am pleased to bestow a high Borrow rating on Chowder.  Letting him live in your house would be pushing it, since you will likely grow tired of his idiosyncrasies.  But, petsitting this chunky bulldog a few times per year...now that'll bring you a ton of warm and fuzzies.    

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