Bad Dog ... BAD DOG ..... oh Harry!!!!!
Written: May 17 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: a story from 1960 .. parents may remember its main character Harry the dog
Cons: Harry is not nice, the book does not meet my requirements for an "early reader"
The Bottom Line: A mean little dog plays tricks on a neighbor in order to stop her from singing. It hurts his ears, but is that a good reason to be nasty?
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| jiastar's Full Review: Harry and the Lady Next Door: (I Can Read Book Ser... |
The nitpicking negatives first and foremost
This is a level-1 "I Can Read Book" published by HarperTrophy. It is geared toward those from preschool up until grade 1. However, I have found it, and it's counterparts, to be more challenging a read than similar level books put out by Random House.
Random House's early readers use large text, simple sentences and phrases and lots of rhyme and rythm.
"Harry and the Lady Next Door" uses none of those techniques.
The tale is told over 52 pages of text, broken up into 4 chapters. The text per page can range from 2 lines to a whopping 14.
In this title at least, there is no use of pattern. This is a standard story, in normal sentence and paragraph structure.
This is a book for a child just learning to read??
My daughter is in first grade, and having been reading since before entering kindergarten would have little to no trouble reading this story.
But this is not a book for an established reader. From their own description, this is a level 1 reader, providing "short simple stories for the early reader".
Certainly a child just learning to sound out words and string them together into phrases would be, frankly, overwhelmed by the longer pages of text.
The tale of Harry
Harry is a white dog with black spots who, in spite of liking all his other neighbors, cannot stand the lady who lives next door.
This lady sings in (I'm guessing from the descriptions) an operatic soprano. In other words, HIGH and LOUD. Well this makes Harry's ears hurt. He much prefers soft and low tones.
He tries twice to make her stop, or at least drown her out, to no avail.
Then there is a singing contest, and Harry tries again to stop the madness? the insanity? oh yes that's right .. the singing.
And in a roundabout way Harry succeeds in getting rid of the lady next door.
More negatives
OK, maybe I'm missing something. Now granted this story was originally copyrighted in 1960, and we worried less about being "politically correct" and let a story be a story. But....
-- why don't we see Harry finding a way to cope with the "racket" without getting rid of the source
-- why don't we see Harry trying to make friends instead of being overjoyed when "the lady" departs
-- instead we see Harry getting just what he wants, never mind what it might do to others
The pictures
Not much to tell here. Pictures are plentiful and are each done in shades of black, grey, yellow, and green. They are not exciting to look at. However, they do serve well to compliment the story.
Overall
I'm not overly fond of this book. I don't like books which find humor in poking fun or playing jokes on someone else. In this case, the lady next door is portrayed as deserving the stunts that Harry plays on her because of her singing.
It is never said that her singing is bad. It's just different. And while you or I might not be fond of having a neighbor singing opera at all hours of the day that wouldn't give us the right to drive them off.
And while things work out well for the lady in the end. It does not justify the means.
My daughter's reaction
She got this as a grab-bag gift in school for the winter holidays. I know that she read it once, and giggled here and there over parts she deemed silly. Mooing cows and leaping frogs can do that to a kid.
She didn't notice any of the underlying .... nastiness? brattiness? ... that I found. However, I haven't seen her read it since.
Final thoughts
It's meant to be silly and funny. And in some places it succeeds. But a good bit of the humor is directed at someone else. Not necessary in a child's book.
It's meant to be entertaining. It fails. Once you've read it through once there is no motivation to read it again. The story is not that exciting.
It is meant as a first reader. Again, it fails. This is a book which, challenge wise, is great for a child who is a newly established reader. A child who can read more than just short phrases, who is comfortable with sentence structure, dialouge, etc.
A child who is still learning will find this book more of a frustration that a learning experience.
All in all, I have to advise that you leave this one on the shelf.
See my reviews of early reader books by Random House:
Sunshine, Moonshine
http://www.epinions.com/content_64035065476
the Snowball
http://www.epinions.com/content_64188944004
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jiastar
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Monmouth County, NJ
Reviews written: 368
Trusted by: 126 members
About Me:
A wife ... a mom ... and a Witch
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