Shoe Dog

Shoe Dog

By Megan McDonald and Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson
Published by Simon & Schuster

Shoe Dog liked to chew. And chew and chew. Not a boring old bone. Not a squeaky old toy. Not a smelly old sock. Shoe Dog liked to chew... Well, guess!

This energetic picture book from Megan McDonald and Katherine Tillotson tells the tale of a puppy who has a fondness for eating shoes! Shoe Dog dreams of a new home that's warm as soup and cosy as pie which may just come true when a woman enters the Animal Shelter and spots him, instantly falling in love with him. 

He may well be cute, but is he a good boy? Shoe Dog is a puppy and puppies like to run and generally cause havoc. This is true of children too, it's a way of discovering the world and seeing what the boundaries are - what's right and what's wrong. Unfortunately for Shoe Dog, he has an appetite for shoes of all types - on his first encounter he manages to chew through; five high heels,  four flip-flops, three sneakers, two boots and one wing tip. 

His new owner doesn't have the same enthusiasm as Shoe Dog for ripping shoes apart and so Shoe Dog is punished by not getting petted or having the privilege of getting to sleep on the 'Big Bed'. Unfortunately Shoe Dog doesn't learn his lesson - when his owner returns with boxes that look like they may well contain 'new shoes' he can't help but investigate. He also can't help but chew on the new shoes and again he is punished for his actions. 

So Shoe Dog tries his best to behave - especially if he doesn't want to be sent back to the Dog Shelter. And all is going well until one day, when his owner returns with those shoe shaped boxes, he rushes up to go and sniff them out. But this time he finds the shoe he would never chew and learns to finally control those shoe chewing impulses (and gets to sleep on the 'Big Bed' for being a good boy).

Katherine's illustrations of Shoe Dog capture the liveness of a young puppy with her 'wound up coil spring' scribble for his body and pastel style motion lines show us how this puppy runs amok as he desperately searches for shoes to chew and destroy! I enjoyed this book, especially knowing first hand how dogs will chew almost anything (my family home have always had dogs for pets and I only lost one pair of shoes and learnt my lesson to keep them well hidden). A fab book for dog lovers and teaching children about resisting (and to keep their favourite shoes away from the family dog!).

Shoe Dog is available to buy now from all good bookshops and online from Simon & Schuster.