Showing posts with label Dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dog. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 May 2016

Harold's Hungry Eyes

Harold's Hungry Eyes

By Kevin Waldron
Published by Phaidon


As part of the Harold's Hungry Eyes blog tour, here's my post. This is Kevin Waldron's fourth children's book, but his first with Phaidon. Meet Harold, an urban dog who, like other dogs, loves food but likes to imagine food in the most unlikely of places.




Harold has a routine; he eats his food, licking his bowl clean, followed by a walk and then returns home to his comfy chair where he dreams of delicious food. Harold loves his chair nearly as much as he loves food. However, one morning, his chair has disappeared, Harold searches everywhere before spotting it outside and being collected by the bin me. He squeezes out of the window to race after the truck but his little legs are no match for the big wheels of the truck. Harold soon finds himself lost wondering the streets, with a rumbling tummy, he soon starts imaging food around the city; a roast chicken in the post box, a fridge at the back of a lorry, even a pie instead of a clock. Luckily Harold soon spots a familiar sight and finds his way back home. After enjoying his breakfast, he can't believe his eyes, there's a new chair and it's perfect.




Kevin Waldron has truly captured the characteristics of this adorable breed of dog, the way they sit and look, I love it. He's also managed to capture the busyness of the city and the overwhelming feeling of being lost for little Harold. There's a looseness to the illustration which works well especially with the addition of food collage - I can imagine children will enjoy pointing out the random placed food. It's a stylish book with touches of humour that dog lovers will enjoy. 



Harold's Hungry Eyes is available to buy from Phaidon here. Check out the rest of the blog tour from the banner on the right of my blog!



Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Ralf.

Ralf.

By Jean Jullien
(Text collaboration by Gwendal Le Bec)
Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books



Ralf. is a heartwarming and surreal book from the French graphic designer Jean Jullien. This bold book is about a little dog that seems to be always getting in the family's way and shouted at a lot but it's soon up to him to save the day. 



After getting under the family's feet too many times, he is told to get out. While sleeping in his kennel, the house is too quiet and smoke soon tickles Ralf's nose. It's up to Ralf to help and as he rushes into the house, his bum gets stuck in the door! If Ralf doesn't do something quickly, the house will burn down. He pulls so hard that he begins to stretch and stretch and is able to reach upstairs but he can't wake anyone up and has to hunt down help. The firefighters tackle the fire but to save the family they have to slide down Ralf's back. Ralf saves the day but he's now a very long dog! 



This book is a nice shape and good for little hands to hold. The story is short but there's just enough words to keep a child's attention as the illustrations are clear, bold and could easily explain the story just by themselves. I like the use of the thick black outline for all of the characters and objects, which makes them pop out. 



This heartwarming book will have any child cheering on little Ralf - Ralf. is available in all good bookshops and online here.