CHOWDER

The very first page of this decidedly different dog story lets the reader know that Chowder the bulldog does things his own way. There he is in his bathroom sitting on the toilet, or rather using the toilet, as the seat is up. The text states that both people and dogs “thought he was just plain weird,” and that Chowder wants to fit in with his canine pals, but doesn’t, due to his different interests. Chowder assembles dog bones into a dinosaur skeleton, reads the newspaper and uses a computer and a telescope. When Chowder discovers a new petting zoo (though there are no people there to pet the animals), he finds a more diverse and accepting group of animals to play with. Chowder plays new games with them on their territory, forgetting about his computer and his newspaper. Though the acrylic-and-pencil illustrations have a droll attraction, Chowder himself is not a particularly appealing character. He has mean eyes and a scary countenance, particularly on the cover, where he looks like he’d like to bite an unsuspecting reader. (Picture book. 4-7)