cover image Paris-Chien: Adventures of an Ex-pat Dog

Paris-Chien: Adventures of an Ex-pat Dog

Jackie Clark Mancuso. La Librairie Parisienne, $17.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-615-54542-4

Hudson, a plucky terrier, can't wait to meet some French dogs while spending a year in Paris with his owner, a writer. Though Hudson sees many other dogs running errands with their owners, everyone is "so busy going places" that he isn't able to make friends. When he finally finds a dog park, another obstacle arises: the dogs only speak French ("Oh great," Hudson thinks. "I thought all dogs spoke Dog"). Hudson slowly absorbs the French language (thanks to lessons from%E2%80%94who else?%E2%80%94a French poodle), and debut author Mancuso includes a sprinkling of French words throughout, which are defined in a glossary. The story feels designed largely to showcase Mancuso's playful, rough-hewn gouache paintings of Paris and its human and canine denizens (Hudson appears in roughly half of the images). Still, she gives Hudson a bold, amusing narrative voice tinged with self-righteousness ("Are you kidding me?" he grumbles, seeing a no-dogs sign at one park), and he ends the story on a droll note, announcing that he's becoming a real Parisian%E2%80%94"I mean Paris-chien." Ages 3%E2%80%936.