Bark, George

When George's mother tells her son to bark, he meows. She patiently explains that "Cats go meow. Dogs go arf. Now, bark, George." But he quacks! Then oinks. Then moos. Becoming less patient and more exasperated, George's mom takes him to the vet, who reaches deep down inside the errant pup, and, much to everyone's surprise, pulls out a cat! Then a duck, a pig, and finally a cow. George is cured, and barks at last! On the way home, his proud mother wants to show off her convincingly doglike son to everyone on the street. But when she says, "Bark, George," he simply says, "Hello." This is the simplest offering yet from Jules Feiffer--creator of the delightful picture books Meanwhile and I Lost My Bear . Still, his cartoonish drawings are intensely expressive, alive, and hilarious. None of it will be lost on the youngest of readers who will giggle every time George fails to bark, every time the vet extracts a new animal, and at the final punchline, too. In a world of often overdone or underdone picture books, this fine Feiffer creation is just right. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by Jules Feiffer. Permission by HarperCollins Publishers.) (Ages 2 and older) --Karin Snelson From Publishers Weekly In just a few pen strokes and just a few words, Feiffer (I Lost My Bear) outlines the playful scenario of a puppy who cannot say "arf." The images are striking, with no background details or props but the unobtrusive text. In the initial spreads, a big dog and a little one face each other from opposite sides of the book: "George's mother said: 'Bark, George.' George went: 'Meow.' " As George proceeds to quack, oink and moo, his dismayed mother grimaces and puts her paw on her head in the classic gimme-a-break gesture. She takes her afflicted son to a veterinarian, who snaps on a rubber glove and decisively repeats the title command. This time, when the pup meows, "The vet reached deep down inside of George... And pulled out a cat." Feiffer reverses the old-lady-who-swallowed-a-fly plot and boosts the giddiness with every barnyard animal removed from tiny George. The pen-and-ink close-ups of the dogs and vet are studies in minimalism and eloquence, and the characters' body language registers intense effort and amazement. Rather than being black-on-white, the illustrations get a boost from cool pastel hues. This pairing of an ageless joke with a crisp contemporary look will initiate many an animated game of animal sounds. Ages 2-6. (June) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2 What's to be done? When George's mother tells him to bark, the puppy meows then quacks, oinks, and finally moos! Like any good mother, the canine marches her son to the vet, who sets right to work. Reaching deep down George's throat, the vet pulls out a cat! But this does not solve the problem, and the doc continues his hilarious extractions. Deep inside his patient, he finds a duck, a pig, and even a cow. At last, when all are removed, George utters an "arf." Young readers will roar with laughter at this slapstick farce with simple line drawings, set against pastel backgrounds, which convey a full range of emotions. But the loudest laughs will come from the readers who share their lives with dogs. When the pup leaves the vet and joins the crowds of people on the street, his mother proudly tells him to bark. George's answer? "Hello!" No surprise to any dog owner who knows what's really deep inside that furry body. Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2-A lovable pup tries to bark, but all that comes out are other animals' sounds, until a cathartic trip to the vet unleashes the problem. A pack of fun, with droll illustrations and deadpan text. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist When measured against some of the glitzy picture books the year has produced, this one looks plain. There are no details to break up the flat colors used on the background. Even the characters are simply drawn, colored shapes determined by thick, black lines. But oh, the expression Feiffer manages to coax out of a few keen strokes. George's mother wants George the puppy to bark. When he meows instead, she scolds him: "No, George. Cats go meow. Dogs go arf." But George can't seem to get it right--first quacking, then oinking, and finally mooing, as his mother becomes increasing distraught. Eventually, it's off to the vet, who literally gets to the bottom of things when he pulls an amazing assortment of beasts out of unsuspecting George's open mouth. What happens next is a wonderful surprise. Feiffer's characters are unforgettable, the text is brief and easy to follow, and the pictures burst with the sort of broad physical comedy that a lot of children just love. It all makes for a witty, laugh-out-loud play on the old favorite about the old lady who swallowed a fly. Stephanie Zvirin George is a puppy rendered irresistible by the cartoonist Jules Feiffer's practiced hand. For the grown-up reader, the artist's simple text may read like a tongue-in-cheek spoof of those well-meaning infant information books that tell a toddler what he doubtless already knows: that cats say meow, ducks go quack-quack, pigs say oink, and so on. Beside herself when her pup seems able to say nothing resembling "arf," George's mother trots him off to the vet. This canny practitioner soon discovers the unexpected causes of George's malady. Feiffer's deadpan graphic absurdities will delight both young and old. This animated cartoon between book covers even come up with a wacko surprise ending. A 1999 Parents' Choice Silver Honor Winner. (Selma G. Lanes, Parents' Choice®) -- From Parents' Choice® " Bark, George ," says George's mother, and George goes: " Meow ," which definitely isn't right, because George is a dog. And so is his mother, who repeats, " Bark, George ." And George goes, " Quack, quack ." What's going on with George? Find out in this hilarious new picture book from Jules Feiffer. Jules Feiffer has won a number of prizes for his cartoons, plays, and screenplays, including the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. His books for children include The Man in the Ceiling, A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears, I Lost My Bear, Bark, George, and Meanwhile... He lives in New York City. In His Own Words... "I have been writing and drawing comic strips all illy life, first as a six-year-old, when I'd try to draw like my heroes: Alex Raymond, who did Flash Gordon, E. C. Segar, who did Popeye , Milton Caniff, who did Terry and the Pirates . The newspaper strip back in the I 1940s was a glorious thing to behold. Sunday pages were full-sized and Colored broadsheets that created a universe that could swallow a boy whole. "I was desperate to be a cartoonist. One of my heroes was Will Eisner, who did a weekly comic book supplement to the Sunday comics. One day I walked into his office and showed him my samples. He said they were lousy, but lie hired me anyway. And I began my apprenticeship. "Later I was drafted Out of Eisner's office into tile Korean War. Militarism, regimentation, and mindless authority combined to squeeze the boy cartoonist Out Of me and bring out the rebel. There was no format at the time to fit [he work I raged and screamed to do, so I had to invent one. Cartoon satire that commented on the Lin military the Bomb, the Cold War, the hypocrisy of grownLIPS, the mating habits of urban Young men and women, these were my subjects. After four years of trying to break into print and getting nowhere, the Village Voice, the first alternative newspaper, offered to publish me. Only one catch: They couldn't Pay me. What (lid I care? "My weekly satirical strip, Sick Sick Sick , later renamed Feiffer started appearing in late 1956. Two years later, Sick Sick Sick came out in book form and became a bestseller. The following years saw a string of cartoon collections, syndication, stage and screen adaptations of the cartoon. One, Munro , won an Academy Award. "This was heady stuff, taking me miles beyond my boyhood dreams. The only thing that got in the way of my enjoying it was the real world. The Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights revolution. The country was coining unglued and my weekly cartoons didn't seem to be an adequate way of handling it. So I started writing plays: Little Murders, The White House Murder Case, Carnal Knowledge, Grownups. All the themes of my comic strips expanded theatrically and later, cinematically to give me the time and space I needed to explain the times to myself and to my audience. "I grew older. I had a family, and late in life, a very young family. I started thinking, as old guys will, about what I wanted these children to read, to learn. I read them E.B. White and Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl, and, one day, I thought, I ley, I can do this." "Writing for young readers connects me profess sionally to) a part of myself that I didn't know how to let out until I was sixty: that kid who lived a life of innocence, mixed with confusion and consternation, disappointment and dopey humor. And who drew comic strips and needed friends--and found them--in cartoons and children's books that told him what the grown-ups in his life had left out. That's what reading (lid for me when I was a kid. Now, I try to return the favor." Read more