Monday, January 31, 2011
Little short poems that live in my notebooks
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Book review: A Day, a Dog
A Day, a Dog
By Gabrielle Vincent
Front Street Inc., 1999
$16.95 hardcover
This book was such a discovery that I remember exactly where I was when I first saw it several years ago. The dog on the cover caught my eye at M Is for Mystery, San Mateo’s great bookshop. I opened it to the first page, and within a minute I had tears in my eyes. By the time I’d finished it (it’s a picture book; it doesn’t take long), I knew that in the name of kindness and of all good things in the universe, I had to buy it. This book is that profound.
In spare, exquisite charcoal drawings, Belgian author/illustrator Gabrielle Vincent begins with a heartbreaking image: a dog being thrown from a car. The dog chases it, but the car speeds away until he’s exhausted, confused, despondent. How do we know a dog is despondent? That is the secret of this book: Vincent’s remarkable ability to depict body language with a few simple lines. We follow the dog through the first day of his sudden, unwanted freedom, wandering roadways, causing a traffic accident, roaming a desolate beach, and finally skulking through back alleys. In the end, Vincent leaves us on a hopeful note (which I won’t give away), and we’re left to draw our own conclusions. Does the dog find happiness? I have to believe he does. It still chokes me up to think about it.
Though Vincent is known for her children’s stories, this book would have disturbed me as a kid. But perhaps with gentle parental guidance, it can be a catalyst to helping children understand their responsibility toward other living creatures. For the rest of us, it’s both a harsh reminder of how cruel people can be and an affirmation that compassion for animals is a gift we can—and should—offer every day of our own lives.
List: Possible Reasons Why My Cat Is Fat
Does not use rowing machine enough.
Orders out during the day.
Does not want my other fat cat to feel self-conscious.
Blew out a knee while attacking a burglar.
Will not switch to margarine.
Surreptitiously takes bites out of me as I sleep.
Diet pills make him bitchy.
Will only do ab crunches if treats are involved.
Idolizes Glen “Big Baby” Davis.
Father was also fat.
Is depressed about the economy.
Hot Pockets.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Book Review: Lives of the Monster Dogs
