Fiction - Animals - Mammals, Fiction - Religion & Beliefs, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

Dog Heaven

Name: Dog Heaven
Author: Cynthia Rylant
ISBN: 9780590417013

by Cynthia Rylant

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Overview

In Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant's classic bestseller, the author comforts readers young and old who have lost a dog. Recommended highly by pet lovers around the world, Dog Heaven not only comforts but also brings a tear to anyone who is devoted to a pet. From expansive fields where dogs can run and run to delicious biscuits no dog can resist, Rylant paints a warm and affectionate picture of the ideal place God would, of course, create for man's best friend. The first picture book illustrated by the author, Dog Heaven is enhanced by Rylant's bright, bold paintings that perfectly capture an afterlife sure to bring solace to anyone who is grieving.

God created Dog Heaven, a place where dogs can eat ice cream biscuits, sleep on fluffy clouds, and run through unending fields.

Synopsis

If you have ever been lucky enough to have a special dog in your life, then you know there is a place called Dog Heaven.

Publishers Weekly

Newbery winner Rylant, who debuted as an illustrator with her Everyday board books (1993), offers paintings and text in tribute to ``Dog Heaven.'' Here there are fields to run in, soft beds (made of clouds turned inside out) and ``angel children,'' because ``God knows that dogs love children more than anything else in the world.'' Rylant's childlike acrylic paintings-similar though less practiced than the work of Lucy Cousins-are filled with checkerboard steps, yellow daisies and pink stars. Whether she is aiming for whimsy, albeit self-consciously, or striving to present a genuinely comforting view of heaven is not entirely clear. God, for example, stands like an organ grinder at a biscuit machine, wearing a purple hat and sporting a white mustache. ``God has a sense of humor,'' Rylant tells us, ``so He makes His biscuits in funny shapes... kitty-cat biscuits and squirrel biscuits,'' and ``every angel who passes by has a biscuit for a dog'' because ``every dog becomes a good dog in Dog Heaven.'' Many will think Rylant's vision appropriately warm and fuzzy; others will consider her on thin ice, psychologically and theologically. Dead animals invisibly return to earth ``for a little visit,'' a development likely to unsettle young mourners; told that dogs in Dog Heaven will be ``at the door'' when ``old friends show up,'' many children are going to worry about how those old friends got there. All ages. (Sept.)

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"Pure, tender, lyrical without being overearnest, and deeply felt." - Kirkus - pointer review

"The reassuring story might comfort a child after the loss of a pet, but this pleasent, imaginary paradise will have a broader appeal to all animal lovers." - SLJ

"The bright acrylic paintings are Rylant's debut as a picture-book painter... they mesh beautifully with the innocence of the text a book for parent-child sharing." - Booklist

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Children's Literature

When dogs die according to Rylant, they go to dog heaven. Here they run and play and even have children to play with. Those dogs that had masters on earth, come down in invisible form to visit and make sure everything is all right. They even wait for their masters to join them in heaven. While the story seems simple and charming, it may well confuse young kids. Why are those kids in dog heaven, are there pet's ghosts really visiting them. The initial illustrating effort on the part of Rylant is primitive, and perhaps her talent lies more in the literary.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Curl up with Rover and take a journey to Dog Heaven, where there are endless fields for running; clear lakes filled with teasing, honking ducks; and loving angel children playing everywhere. There are tasty biscuits shaped like cats and fluffy cloud beds for sleeping, memory trips back to favorite spots and people, and cozy homes with petting hands. Rylant uses simple, comfortable language and an abundance of careful detail to create a place of warmth and happiness. Dressed in colorful clothing and sporting an orange scarf, God is friendly and accessible; he looks after ``His dogs,'' making sure the biscuits are appetizing and the dreams are serene. With their simple shapes and bold lines, the bright acrylic paintings have a childlike appeal. Brush strokes add texture and depth, while unusual color combinations-glowing mixes of oranges, purples, and greens-contribute to the peaceful mood. Canines become part of the landscape; tumbling hills and rounded surfaces reflect the rapid motion of exuberant pooches running breathlessly across endless fields, while pawprints shine brightly beside nighttime stars and decorate the sides of mountains. The reassuring story might comfort a child after the loss of a pet, but this pleasant, imaginary paradise will have a broader appeal to all animal lovers.-Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library

Stephanie Zvirin

Taking a less temporal approach to the subject of death than did Viorst in her homey tale "The Tenth Good Thing about Barney" (1971), Rylant sweeps beyond the here and now into a brightly colored place she calls Dog Heaven. In this joyfully imagined place, God is a smiling, white-haired gentleman who watches the goings-on as dogs run and bark, play with kids, eat dog biscuits in cat shapes, and sleep on fluffy clouds. It's also a place where dogs patiently wait for old friends: "They will be there at the door. Angel dogs." Rylant's kindergarten concept of the hereafter is cheerful but not humorous or glib. The story seems quietly and deeply rooted in faith, but it is neither sober nor sentimental, and the notion of a higher being is blended naturally into the text in an unpretentious, comforting way. The bright acrylic paintings are Rylant's debut as a picture-book painter; reminiscent of the artwork of very young children, they mesh beautifully with the innocence of the text (which is actually less a story than a series of descriptions), with their vivid rainbow colors turning the sometimes scary mystery of dying into an adventure spent with happy, welcoming four-footed friends. A book for parent-child sharing and discussion.