Review - Goodnight, Good Dog

Goodnight, Good Dog
by Mary Lyn Ray
illustrated by Rebecca Malone
Date: 2015
Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

It's time to say goodnight. But what if a dog isn't sleepy? Intimate and accessible, this young dog story captures how a reluctant pup warms to bedtime in a way that children will recognize immediately--and find as reassuring as their own beds.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a rather fanciful story that attributes human thought processes to a dog who doesn't want to go to bed. I get that it may be a metaphor for children not wanting to go to bed yet; they'd rather stay up and play, just like the dog.

And I might've been able to go along with the conceit if the pictures had blown me away. Unfortunately, they didn't. They look so rough to me, almost as if someone has taken a paintbrush and traced over some photographs of dogs. There's both too little detail and too much texture. I'm really not a fan of the style.

I can think of a number of other books about bedtime that are much better than this. Try Bedtime 123 by Eric Walters & Josée Bisaillon, A Bedtime for Bear by Bonny Becker & Kady MacDonald Denton, or I Want a Bedtime Story! by Tony Ross for some lovely bedtime books.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5