Dislike the book, but love the message. That's my opinion, in a nutshell, of Flawed Dogs - The Year-End Leftovers at the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound by Berkeley Breathed.

Most people are familiar with the works of Berkeley Breathed - especially his comic strip Bloom County. But you might not know that he's also a huge supporter of animal rights. When he wanted to help shed light on the staggering pet overpopulation problem, he conceived the idea of a children's picture book. Using his own quirky brand of humor, Flawed Dogs is written as if it is a catalog of the "flawed" dogs, living in a shelter awaiting adoption. It's supposed to be the shelter's year end "leftover" catalog. Their most flawed, and therefore most un-adoptable dogs. The point of the book is to show that shelter dogs, even though they might be "flawed" in the eyes of those seeking purebred show-ready dogs, deserve homes and loving families, too.

The message is a good one. Each year, more than 5 million animals are euthanized in shelters, merely because of lack of space. So, a book that can help raise awareness should be right up there with my favorites. Right? Well, unfortunately, I simply don't enjoy this particular book.

What is it, exactly?

Each time you turn the page, you're shown a full page color illustration, and a half-page poem describing one of the flawed dogs. The illustrations are similar to what you'd find in Bloom County or any other of Breathed's works. Of course these are cartoon dogs, with hugely exaggerated cartoon flaws. Some examples of the flaws are "too hairy", "too gassy", "too long". Then there are the really bizarre ones, like "likes to climb up people's noses", "received too much plastic surgery", "too colorful", "tongue too long", "too weird" and "too many tattoos".

With such exaggerated "flaws", I find many of the pictures and poems rather crude. Not funny, and not cute. Granted, a few of them gave me a chuckle. But most caused me to groan, and quickly turn the page. This is not a book I'd be proud to give as a gift to anyone, and I would not enjoy sharing it with a child, despite being presented as a children's picture book.

Here are two examples, of the less-crude dogs.

"Titus" is bulldog/poodle mix. The picture shows a mean-looking bulldog, complete with an under bite, and fangs sticking straight up. But he has poodle-like hair. And he's been groomed like a poodle show dog - including the poofy tail, and fluffy ears. A strange looking animal, to be sure. The accompanying poem:

Titus was a birthday gift
From Bubba's momma Wenti.
Bubba wanted a bulldog mix
And got one mixed aplenty.

****

"Heather" is best described as a fur ball with a nose and a tongue. That's exactly how she's drawn. Think ball of fluff. Having known many a Pomeranian, I can relate to this one. The accompanying poem:

Meet Heather with plenty of hair.
She figures it better than bare.
Miss Pott kicked her out
For she had a doubt
Whether any of Heather was there.

***

These two examples were relatively tame. The more crude humor, I prefer not to repeat here. The bottom line, for me, is that the message is a good one. I hate the sad fact that there are so many unwanted animals. But this book, in my opinion, doesn't help the cause. While it's intended to give the message that all creatures, even those that are "flawed" deserve love, the message gets lost in the crude humor.

Recommended: No