THE DOG FROM ARF! ARF! TO ZZZZZZ
The Dog Artlist Collection, . . HarperCollins, $14.99 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-06-059857-0
Purebred puppies and miniature dogs, gazing at the camera with adoring, dewy eyes and sniffing with big moist noses, appear in this high-end, greeting card–cute photographic ABC. Most of the snapshots are taken in the comical snout-in-the- camera mode, so that the dogs' heads appear enormous and their bodies look stuffed- animal tiny. A fuzzy young beagle softly gums a rawhide chew toy for the letter F, "Fetch!" and a black pug licks its nose with a pink tongue for the letter M ("Mmmmmm"). Occasionally, the photographers exchange the facial close-up for an aft shot. A wiry-haired dachshund—whose body looks hyperextended given the extreme perspective—models for the letter T, "Tail," and a silky King Charles spaniel waves a greeting on the W page ("Wag, wag, wag"). According to the text, these images were taken by multiple artists for the Dog Artlist Collection and became a postcard series in Japan, but the consistency of the shots and the symmetry of the pages suggest a strict, uniform approach. The editors allot one letter and one dog to each page, and place every image within a pure-white, empty background, à la DK's informational books. An index names the dog breed representing each letter (not a mutt in the mix). While the ebullient animals exude energy, this tidy alphabet seems designed for maximum visual impact at the expense of draining them of animation. All ages.
Reviewed on: 03/29/2004
Genre: Children's
Board Books - 1 pages - 978-0-06-077181-2
Hardcover - 1 pages - 978-0-06-059858-7
Paperback - 40 pages - 978-0-06-059859-4