If I had a tail, I’d wag it. THAT’s how much I enjoyed Dogs in Cars. In fact, I can’t actually bring myself to let the kids have it on their bookshelf. I think I’m going to stash it on mine.
This is no one-dimensional picture book. Pitched as a counting book, it’s slick and stylish (as you’d expect from Flying Eye Books), and works hard to deliver on so many levels for the kids and adults too.
Firstly there’s the utterly pattable dogs… twenty-six of them to be precise. One breed for
each letter of the alphabet. I give you xoloitzcuintlis, the Mexican hairless dog. Who knew? In the same way that kids love to memorise a dinosaur name, you can see them carefully memorising each dog name for future recital. Good luck with Utonagan!
Secondly, the oh-so-shiny and designy classic cars that the dogs cruise about in. The rottweilers in the Rolls are simply woofable. Emmanuelle’s clean, retro, palette makes you want to tear out the page and hang it on the wall (which, incidentally, is how the whole thing came about, based on her illustrative series of the same name).
Thirdly, Massie and Emmanuelle have thrown a bone to the adults too. If you know your cars (or dogs for that matter), you’ll delight in discovering the clever interplay between words and pictures. The six French bulldogs graceful as a prancing horse are of course hanging out the window of a Ferrari (the sixth letter of the alphabet), famous for its prancing stallion logo. Or how about a nod to Dulux with fifteen Old English sheepdogs covered in paint? Clever.
But if you and your little people are more partial to feline friends, then don’t worry… there’s something to make them purr too.
Hot diggedy dog!
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