Review - Little Brown

Little Brown
by Marla Frazee
Date: 2018
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

A grumpy and lonely little dog at the animal shelter decides to take matters into his own paws in this though-provoking and sublime picture book from the award-winning author and illustrator of The Boss Baby!

Little Brown is one cranky canine because no one ever plays with him at the animal shelter. Or maybe no one ever plays with him because he is cranky. Either way, Little Brown decides today is the day to take action, so he takes all of the toys and sticks and blankets from all of the dogs at the shelter and won’t give them back. But what will happen now?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Little Brown is kind of a jerk. He steals all the other dogs' toys, presumably because he wants to be included. The synopsis asks, "What will happen now?" The answer, unfortunately, is, "Not much."

I don't like open-ended books at the best of times. Even for adults. I like some resolution to the stories I read. If I've put in the time to read the whole story, I want to know how it's going to end. The whole "let's let the reader decide what happens" is a cop-out, as far as I'm concerned. I honestly thought that my e-book copy was glitched and that I was missing a page. But by looking at other reviews on Goodreads, I see that that's not the case. This is simply a story that abruptly ends before the actual ending.

The illustrations are cute. I mean, it's a motley crew of dogs of all shapes and sizes doing what dogs do (play, nap, run in circles, etc.). But even the best illustrations wouldn't make me love this.

I enjoyed The Boss Baby, so I guess I was hoping to have a similar reading experience here. This book might work for some readers... but not ones who like their stories to have a resolution.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5