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Howler ISBN: 9780747556367
Layton, Neal and Rosen, Michael
Published by Bloomsbury, 2004
It is the dog who tells the story in this witty picture book. He is an 'author', and first of all he introduces us to his 'pets' - Rover, a little girl, Rex, her dad, and Cindy, her mum. When Cindy starts getting bigger (outwards, not upwards) the dog is at first confused, until he finds Cindy reading a book 'full of very small humans' to Rover. When their very small human arrives home, the dog names him Howler (for obvious reasons), but soon finds himself neglected. It is the dog rather than the little girl who suffers the pangs of jealousy. But then he teams up with Ruff-ruff next door, who is soon growing 'outwards' and presents him with five Rufflets..... A completely original take on new babies in a family, and because the jealousy is happening to a dog, it becomes a tad more acceptable. The illustrations, replete with blobs of colour and lots of squiggly lines, are full of humour in themselves, and in the end the dog is happy because he knows 'who Rover likes best'.
Age: 3+