The Little Crooked Bookshelf

Dogs' Night
by Meredith Hooper
Illustrated by Allan Curless

What it's all about . . .
This book is about disobedient dogs and fine art. Also, the dogs all come from famous paintings. The story takes place at London's National Gallery and one night all the dogs escape from the paintings and race around the museum, and then they accidentally climb back into the wrong paintings. It's sort of like sitting in the wrong seat in a classroom if you have assigned seating. Except it's much worse, because news crews show up and art experts and scholars and it just turns into a huge mess. 

Why it’s on The Little Crooked Bookshelf . . .

First, it has disobedient dogs in it, which we really enjoy. (Please do not ask us to dogwatch your disobedient dog. We only like them when they appear in story form.) Second, it's sort of a crooked story, because the dogs end up stuck in the wrong paintings with the wrong owners.  

Our favorite line . . .
The big brown, hunting dog with the white nose hated standing on the chair. 

Our favorite illustration . . .

All the pictures of the dogs trying to stand still in the wrong paintings are pretty great. But we especially like this one of the dogs throwing a party after the guests leave.




Why kids will love it . . .
It's got a lot of cool-looking and interesting dogs in it. And they're a bunch of rule-breakers. 

Why grown-ups will love it . . .

It's a great way to introduce young readers to many interesting painters, like Jan van Eyck and Georges-Pierre Seurat.  It's also fun to guess which dog belongs where.