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Summary
Summary
A tale in haiku
of one adorable dog.
Let's find him a home.
Wandering through the neighborhood in the early-morning hours, a stray pooch follows his nose to a back-porch door. After a bath and some table scraps from Mom, the dog meets three lovable kids. It's all wags and wiggles until Dad has to decide if this stray pup can become the new family pet. Has Mooch finally found a home? Told entirely in haiku by master storyteller Andrew Clements, this delightful book is a clever fusion of poetry and puppy dog.
Author Notes
Andrew Clements was born in Camden, New Jersey on May 7, 1949. He received a bachelor's degree in literature from Northwestern University and master's degree in teaching from National Louis University. Before becoming a full-time author, he taught in the public schools north of Chicago for seven years, was a singer-songwriter, and worked in publishing.
He is well known for his picture book texts, but it was his middle school novel, Frindle, that was a breakthrough for his writing career. Frindle won numerous awards including the Georgia Children's Book Award, the Sasquatch Children's Book Award, the Massachusetts Children's Book Award, the Rhode Island Children's Book Award, and the Year 2000 Young Hoosier Book Award. His other works include The Landry News, The Janitor's Boy, No Talking, Things Not Seen, Things Hoped For, and Things That Are.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-A stray dog's first day in a family's home is more or less a test of whether he'll get to stay. Of course, the innocent creature lives entirely in the moment, and the human perspective doesn't come into play until the end. Clements shadows the pup closely and maintains a canine's view of everything-food, loving pals, bath time, sunshine, shade, the lure of garbage and household objects to chew, the loneliness of the school bus leaving, and the joy when it returns. The story is familiar but still entirely fresh due to Clements's original presentation. He tells the entire tale in haiku, a remarkably effective vehicle for delivering such a sweet and simple story. The family's deliberation over what to call the dog is captured perfectly with the form's structure: "A dog needs a name./Rags? Mutt? Pooch? No, not Rover./Mooch. Yes. Mooch! Perfect." While each haiku is typically spare, Bowers's vibrant illustrations are busy and bright, filling the pages with the same unbounded energy as the lovable pooch. This joyful tale is guaranteed to evoke storytime cheers.-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Clements (Lunch Money) cleverly combines haiku and an endearing canine protagonist in this jaunty tale, written primarily from the pooch's perspective. After the friendly creature arrives on the doorstep of a family's home, the mother lets him inside and tends to his needs: "First food, then a bath./ The food was a lot more fun./ Still, it all feels good." As the animal happily accepts scraps at the breakfast table, an important topic surfaces: "A dog needs a name./ Rags? Mutt? Pooch? No, not Rover./ Mooch. Yes, Mooch! Perfect." The pup is bored when the kids go off to school and their mother is outdoors gardening, but Mooch soon finds a solution ("Chew on dirty socks./ Roll around in week-old trash./ Ahhh... that's much better"). Sitting in on a family meeting, Mooch mistakenly overhears the word "pound" and is fretful when the father drives off in his car. But the new pet is overjoyed when the man returns with propitious purchases: "A new doggy bed!/ Food, a bowl, a squeaky toy!/ Mooch has found his home." Never forced, Clements's nimbly crafted verse flows freely and delivers ample humor. Bowers's animated oil paintings comically capture the playful pup's antics, revealing Mooch in the tub, eagerly shaking water and suds all over the mother; smiling while riding in the car, his head stuck out the window; and half submerged in the overturned garbage can. A spirited demonstration of the versatility-and fun-of haiku. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Here's an original dog tale: the story of Mooch, a stray who finds a new home then nearly loses it, is told exclusively in haiku. (""Chew on dirty socks. / Roll around in week-old trash. / Ahhh...that's much better."") The haiku are funny, pensive, and affecting--sometimes all at once--and the oil paintings are just as thoughtfully executed. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Sixteen haiku serve as the text for this heartwarming story of a wandering dog who finds a new home with a kind family. The scruffy, gray dog with beady eyes and an oversized nose appears through the window of the back door on the front cover, and who could resist that engaging face? He's invited into the house and then fed, bathed and given the name of Mooch. In succeeding spreads, Mooch begins to feel at home but gets into typical trouble when left alone, chewing on socks and getting into the trash. The new owners provide Mooch with his own bed and toys, finally accepting him as part of their family. The author succeeds in packing quite a bit of plot into the haiku, with additional story elements added through the illustrations of a busy household with three children. The illustrations create a real sense of drama as the dog's fate is considered, and Mooch stands out in every illustration with his appealing facial expressions and poses. A short author's note defines haiku and offers some additional samples. (Picture book/poetry. 4-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The title and the cover picture of a cute dog wistfully staring into a house are clues but not to what you might guess. This is no canine Sudoku; it's a shaggy dog story told in haiku. When a homeless dog shows up at the back door, a family takes him in, feeds and bathes him, and names him Mooch. Mooch laps up all the attention, but will his bouncy doggie antics send him to the pound? Bowers' lively oil paintings are, well, doggone charming. Expressions and body language are on target and animate the short, snappy text. The pet experience is a clever, fun introduction to the poetic form and an engaging lead-in to a class writing exercise. An author's note provides background on haiku. Adorable dog / seeks a family and a home / wagging tail, ace tale. --Julie Cummins Copyright 2007 Booklist