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Title: The Day My Dogs Became Guys by Merrill Markoe, Eric Brace ISBN: 0-670-85344-5 Publisher: Viking Childrens Books Pub. Date: February, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: DOg Days
Comment: " I wish they were people, so we could make them understand things once and for all". In The Day My Dogs Became Guys, a trio of dogs morphs into people. Their lolling tongues and drooping eyes might look the same as when they were dogs, but their capacities to destroy become even greater as they become human. Brace attempts to illustrate the chaos that Dee Dee, Butch, and Ed cause through exaggeration. Particularly exaggerated is the size of the characters that indicates the main action and accurately personifies the pets. In this picture book, the famous last words of Carey, the protagonist are that he wishes his dogs could become people.
On the title page, the readers' eyes are directed in three different directions. Each of the dogs attempts to evade Carey, making the animals seem as if they are jumping off the page. Situated in the middle Carey seems small and out of control compared to the dogs. His facial expression indicates surprise and exasperation, further indicating to the reader that Carey has now become the owned instead of the owner. Further contributing to Carey's predicament, on the first page of the story, the three dogs lie on top of Carey and smother him. The exaggeration of the dogs' sizes and the text saying that Carey is "buried alive" by the dogs allows readers to see Carey's power being usurped. At the breakfast table that morning, the three dogs drool ferociously as Carey eats and Carey's mother cautiously looks on. In Carey's mouth, a huge lump of food tantalizes the begging dogs. The amount of drool coming out of their mouths shows the reader how demanding the dogs are characterizing the voracious appetites of the three.
Brace also exaggerates the size of pictures on the page to foreshadow important events. While at school, Carey learns about the eclipse coming later that day. The diagram of the eclipse is enormous and immediately catches the eye of the reader foreshadowing the events to follow. When the eclipse occurs the shadows of the three dogs appear on the ground in front of Carey. In addition, the shadows of the three dogs are huge and menacing. At this point, it looks like a catastrophe may be about to happen.
The narration on the pages reveals that Carey's dogs have morphed into humans. These "humans" have personalities comparable to the qualities they have exhibited as dogs. In the first illustration of the dogs-turned-humans, the neo-humans are towering over Carey, dragging him to the door obviously trying to get him outside into a world of trouble. Dee Dee attempts to confiscate the huge turkey in the refrigerator. The gigantic turkey alludes to the anxious hunger brewing inside of Dee Dee. In fact, as a human Dee Dee's first exclamation is "...I am starving to death" (12). On the consecutive pages, Brace does not choose to exaggerate any particular character or action. Instead the divergent action occurring shows the ensuing chaos. Sometimes Brace uses exaggeration to point out character traits. Throughout the dogs' transformation, Carey's facial expressions are large and embellished. His mouth is usually wide open, and he looks close to tears, making him seem like a worrier. Dee Dee's rear end is so exaggerated that she cannot squeeze under the bed, probably due to her tendency to overeat and contributes to her character flaw of being insatiably hungry.
When Carey's mom comes home a scene of utter destruction confronts the reader. The muddy footprints covering the downstairs lead upstairs. As readers, we have no choice but to clench our teeth and be curious about what is going to happen when Carey's mother finds the human dogs. Proving the readers' anticipation of danger wrong, everything turns out all right in the end. The dogs are back to normal due to the end of the eclipse and the closing scene is a picture of Carey bathing Dee Dee. This time, Carey's size is exaggerated, showing that he is bigger than the dog; he has finally gained control. His face has exhibited a mélange of emotions: surprise, fear, and confusion; and now that the dogs are submissive again elation.
Readers see early in the story that Carey has the ability to be overtaken by his pets, and that fact becomes even more evident through Brace's exaggerated illustrations. The opening scene Carey's dogs are smothering him yet his size is still substantial in comparison to the dogs. Finally, on the last page of The Day My Dogs Became Guys Carey's size in relation to the dogs returns to normal and his face is very contented showing the return to normalcy. This normalcy is something Carey cherishes and his original statement is disregarded when he says at the end of the book: " I am very relieved that you guys are dogs again. Because you are some pretty good dogs. But you are some really terrible people".
Rating: 4
Summary: Dogs are Really Humans in Disguise, Right?
Comment: What if your dogs became human? What kind of people would they be? THe premise keeps kids intrigued, the bad behavior of the dogs-turned-people make them almost as bad as Rotten Ralph (Jack Gantos) and their retransfiguration is just as wonderful as the mayhem they cause.
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Title: It's My F---ing Birthday : A Novel by Merrill Markoe ISBN: 0812967240 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 24 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: What the Dogs Have Taught Me, and Other Amazing Things I'Ve Learned by Merrill Markoe ISBN: 0670843105 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: May, 1992 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Merrill Markoe's Guide to Love by Merrill Markoe ISBN: 0871137062 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: How to Be Hap-Hap-Happy Like Me by Merrill Markoe ISBN: 0140233695 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1995 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs ISBN: 0312272057 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 02 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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