My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My ESL (english second language) adopted son and I both loved this fun and curious tale about a naughty dog, birthday wishes, and a mix-up at the pet store.
When a black-and-white dog pops out of the birthday gift box instead of the cat sister wished for, Dudley gets the message quickly – that he’s not wanted. He abandons the startled party guests and jumps out the window to chase cats.
Through construction sites, burning buildings, thunderstorms, and railroad tracks, Dudley pursues an ever growing number of cats — scolded constantly for thinking ‘you have nine lives like a cat‘. Until his luck runs out at the circus (hint: cats at the circus are tigers).
As a book to get kids interested in reading, it’s fabulous. The illustrations are bright and funny, and little ones will enjoy counting the steadily increasing number of cats (corresponding with Dudley’s extinguishing ‘lives‘) on each page. The text is also repetitive (in a fun way), which is great for young readers to reinforce new words and by the end of the book feel confident reading.
This book has a few bad wraps on Goodreads — the main complaint being the obscurity of the story. But Jerry and I loved the mystery of it all. Is Dudley a dog? Did he die on each page? Was he outwitted by every cat in the book? And most importantly … did sister’s wish actually come true or was Dudley a cat all along?
My son is 10 now, but this is still one of his favourite books: a fun story, cool illustrations, and one of the first books he read all by himself. And for me, that’s what makes a great children’s book.
