The Great Dog Wash by Shellie Braeuner, Robert Neubecker (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Big dogs and small dogs,
come one and all dogs.
We're having a dog wash today!

Come to the zaniest dog wash in town! Dogs of all kinds are invited - but did someone bring a cat? Shellie Braeuner's playful rhymes and Robert Neubecker's lively illustrations make this one dog wash you won't want to miss.

Publishers Weekly

Debut author Braeuner is doubly fortunate: she won the Cheerios New Author Contest and got Neubecker (I Got Two Dogs) as her first collaborator. The end result, however, is mixed. Readers will appreciate how their fictional peers run the dog-washing enterprise with no help from grownups—although there are comic mishaps, these kids clearly have their act together. But Braeuner's predictable wordplay and rhymes don't do much to convey the giddy fun of an enterprise that involves hoses, soap and shaggy, rambunctious pets: “Slippery, slobbery,/ do a good jobbery./ Wash all that dog smell away.” Neubecker tackles the material with the confidence of a pro. While he's always been good at conveying the bustle and telling details of a crowd, he's even better here when he fills a spread with a limited number of large-scale figures engaged in a focused action: two kids and four sundry dogs in full gallop, a trio of kids hosing down a towering but eager pooch. Ages 2–6. (July)

Children's Literature

Many different types and breeds of dogs are arriving at the dog wash to get cleaned. The people line up with their canines, waiting for the children to give the dogs a bath; however, a cat also arrives at the dog wash and the suds begin to fly. The chase begins as the cat dashes up the street with the dogs close behind along with the dog washers. The cat finds the sanctuary of a tree while the dogs, all dirty again, surround the tree. The dog wash plans are tweaked a little. The dog washers close the gate to corral the dogs in the yard; they proceed to wash the dogs and primp them with ribbons or scarves. Just as all the dogs are ready, guess who wanders over again?! The rhymes provide a good rhythm for the fun story. The cartoon-like illustrations fill the pages and subtly foreshadow the plot. This story is the 2007 Cheerios Spoonful of Stories New Author Contest winner. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

Kirkus Reviews

Short, rhyming text, bold but simple illustrations and a pack of cheerful canines add up to a winning dog tale that is simple enough for younger preschoolers who are just starting to enjoy their first stories with a complete plot. An enterprising group of children organizes the doggie-bathing project using a washtub and hose, a method that works well until a cat strolls into the scene, causing a ruckus, as the soapy pooches follow the cat to a nearby tree. The clever kids adjust to the circumstances, moving their washing operation to a new site under the tree, where they shampoo and rinse the dogs as a pack. Neubecker uses a jazzy palette of olive green, strawberry and banana yellow for his cartoon-style illustrations, with thick, black outlines and lots of water drips and shampoo bubbles flying across the pages. The dogs are an amiable bunch, thoroughly enjoying their new hairdos, bows and bandanas, and the multiethnic group of children is a confidence-inspiring creative group whose know-how and adaptability give them something both fun and worthwhile to do on a warm summer day. (Picture book. 2-6)

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