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Summary
Summary
Award-winning author/illustrator Melissa Sweet introduces Tupelo, an abandoned dog, who must find a new home for herself and her sock toy, Mr. Bones. With creative language and brilliant illustrations, Melissa shows how home is sometimes found in the most unexpected places.
Author Notes
Melissa Sweet has received a Caldecott Honor medal award for A River of Words for her illustrations. Her illustrations have appeared in the New York Times and Smilebox cards.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3- A winsome story, full of lore and legend. Tupelo, a dog, is in search of a home with her sock toy, Mr. Bones. Fortunately, she meets up with the Bonehead gang, canines who, wishing upon the Dog Star, bury their bones and hope for the best. A tenderhearted hobo, Garbage Pail Tex, cares for the pack, riding the rails and finding homes (new and old) for his friends. The book opens with a time line of famous pups such as Argos, Odysseus's pet who waited "147 dog years for his master to return." Fans of the author's Carmine (Houghton, 2005) will immediately recognize the playful watercolor and mixed-media illustrations. As the dogs settle down for a long night's rail ride, Garbage Pail Tex conjures up the heroic tales of Lassie, Dorothy's Toto, and Superman's Krypto; and ends with a lullaby, "Oh give me a bone/and a yard I can roam-." No lean kibble, this book is packed with such meaty morsels as a map of the heavens, a note on the constellation Canis Major, cartoon collages, and a faux film-clip insert of Lassie. This is a richly rewarding book about the power of wishful thinking and kindness toward those most vulnerable. Tupelo is a sweet howl.-Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An idiosyncratic mash-up of canine lore, astronomy and the romance of the railroad, Sweet's (Carmine) tale wanders--much like its titular character. Callously abandoned by the side of the road, a forlorn dog named Tupelo searches for a new home. She finds kindred spirits in a pack of dogs known as the BONEHEADS (the Benevolent Order of Nature's Exalted Hounds Earnest and Doggedly Sublime), who trust a friendly hobo known as Garbage Pail Tex to escort them, via boxcar, to better lives. Though events don't initially turn out as hoped, Tupelo eventually discovers where, and with whom, she belongs. The narrative momentum goes off track with a subplot about wishing on Sirius, the Dog Star. The small, crowded scenes in cheery watercolors and mixed media showcase Sweet's unusually expressive canine cast. A bounty of design extras include several fold-out spreads, a detailed timeline in dog years of dog heroes (from Balto to Lassie, from Old Yeller to Superman's dog, Krypto) and elegant endpapers featuring various constellations in the night sky. Ages 6-10. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Little dog Tupelo and her sock toy are abandoned one day. In their search for somewhere to belong, they encounter a group of dogs who pray to the star Sirius for a home--but a sacrifice is required. The many story elements can be hard to follow, but watercolor and mixed-media illustrations, full of motion and emotion, help bring them together. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In a winsome tale laced with doggy humor, an abandoned canine tags along with a pack of other four-legged fellows searching for new homes, before finding a companion to call her own. Left by the roadside with only her "skanky" sock puppet for company, plucky Tupelo follows her nose to a motley posse of lost BONEHEADS (Benevolent Order of Nature's Exalted Hounds Earnest And Doggedly Sublime) engaged in the ancient ritual of making wishes on Sirius, the Dog Star. Those wishes soon come true, thanks to the efforts of aptly named hobo Garbage Pail Tex, but in the general scurry of adoptions Tupelo is left alone again. Sweet depicts Tupelo's odyssey with a mix of sequential panels, full-page scenes and occasional foldouts, all sandwiched between star-strewn endpapers and a timeline laid out in dog years. In the end Tupelo hops aboard a passing train, and Tex himself sits down beside her--so off the two go, "like Sirius and Orion," to travel the world together "with a little stench." Fans of the popular stray-animal genre will bid her godspeed. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Dogs, stars, tramps, and trains drive this tender picture-book story about a brave stray and her search for home. At the core is the elemental outsider adventure: a small dog, Tupelo, is dumped by the side of the road. Rejected by everyone, she sniffs her way to a group of Boneheads, strays who make a wish to Sirius, the Dog Star, to find a home. A kind hobo, Tex, feeds the dogs and helps them hop a train, and they feel as if they are in dog heaven when he tells them about dog heroes. When the train trip ends, only Tupelo doesn't find shelter. She's on her own again until, guided by Sirius, she is reunited with Tex. Then the two travel on together, side by side. Sweet's beautifully detailed artwork, in watercolor and mixed-media, is packed with feeling and story. Dog lovers and their families will enjoy sharing the spreads that open out to profiles of famous dogs, such as Old Yeller, Snoopy, and Rin Tin Tin. Pair this with Marc Simont's The Stray (2001), a story that treats the subject of strays from a more realistic, but equally comforting perspective.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist