Naughty Mabel

July 6, 2015
Lane and Elliott’s first picture book begins with Mabel, a French bulldog with huge batlike ears, floating in a palatial Hamptons swimming pool. It ends with Mabel unleashing a fart so powerful that it sends her owners’ guests fleeing in their formalwear. In between, Mabel tosses off bon mots (“I’m five! Oh, I know I don’t look it. Besides, five is the new three!”) and denies—and then impishly affirms—that she is indeed a bad dog. “Of course, I play by my own rules,” she says while wreaking havoc on a miniature golf course. “I’m a maverick, what can I say?” Krall (Sick Simon) gives Mabel a visual personality that’s part diva and part Auntie Mame, but it feels like he’s pedaling awfully hard to achieve a champagne bubbliness. As for the text, if Lane could come to every home and read this book aloud in his inimitable cadence, readers would be thoroughly charmed. But on its own, it’s a rambling monologue without any narrative cohesion beyond an arch attitude. Ages 4–8. Authors’ agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Illustrator’s agent: Abigail Samoun, Red Fox Literary.

July 15, 2015
A pampered French bulldog named Mabel leads a life of misbehavior in this celebrity vehicle. Mabel lives in a mansion in the Hamptons with a swimming pool and her own bedroom. She narrates her story with a worldly-wise and wisecracking voice, a sophisticated pooch always looking for something to get up to. Her mischievous antics are creative and entertaining, such as taking a golf cart for a joy ride and adding her own painted details to a huge, expensive portrait. The climax of Mabel's many misdeeds finds her crashing her owners' fancy dinner party around the pool. There, she eats too much human food, leading to a doggy digestive gas attack that clears the house. The evening ends with Mabel in bed in between her "parents," who reassure her of their unconditional love. The concept and illustrations work well together, but the story is long, plodding, and filled with adult-level quips and jokes that will fly over the heads of most children. One of these comments about Mabel's French ancestry is an old cultural stereotype that doesn't belong in the 21st century: "Maybe it's the French in me, but I do not like to bathe. Not one bit." Digitally produced, cartoon-style illustrations and a supersized format create a larger-than-life aura for Mabel's debut (a sequel is already in the works), but her story is frantic, not funny. Mabel's story may be a hit in the Hamptons, but will it play in Peoria? Maybe not. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-If Eloise had been a dog, she would have been Naughty Mabel, the overprivileged, overindulged canine heroine of this picture book. Like Eloise's, some of Mabel's humor is best appreciated by the adults who will be reading aloud, as when Mabel describes her age ("five is the new three"), but many of her antics will resonate with youngsters who wish they could get away with driving a golf cart or applying their own touches to the artwork on their parents' walls. One way to divide the world is between those who believe their pets should be regarded as children and that they should be admired by everyone they encounter, and those who do not. People in the former camp will like this book. VERDICT An amusing, if additional, purchase.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

norwin - Naughty Mabel is a very funny picture book. Mabel is a wild, sarcastic French bulldog. For example, she says she lives in a “humble abode” but really she lives in a mansion. The problem is she is also VERY naughty! She does lots of bad things and is quite a troublemaker. For example, she turns a portrait of a woman into a painting of a French bulldog while her parents aren’t home. We thought it was also hilarious when she runs across the table with a turkey on her head. Not only does she crash that dinner party, but she also crashes a giant party at her parents’ house with many fancy guests. We really laughed at the part when she starts feeling something funny and then lets out a HUGE fart! Gross! It is a really funny book and we can’t wait to read the second one!

October 1, 2015
Grades K-2 Naughty Mabel is an engaging newcomer to the ranks of misunderstood free spirits. The tiny, pseudo-sophisticated French bulldog lives with her human parents in the Hamptons, where she enjoys adding excitement and panache to every social occasion. She rampages through their modest mansion, wreaking chaos in her wake, yet her doting humans always forgive her. This forgiving inclination is sorely put to the test when Mabel decides to crash a formal soiree, culminating in an unfortunate eruption of mansion-clearing gas. Thankfully, however, her parents love her no matter how big a mess she makes. Young readers will enjoy Mabel's irreverent antics, particularly as they're rendered in Krall's cartoonish illustrations, especially the spreads revealing the path of Mabel's destruction in a bright-red dotted line. Krall's stylish, colorful drawings add sly bits of humorperhaps a few celebrity cameos?and effectively emphasize Mabel's outsize personality. Mabel is somewhere between Fancy Nancy and Rotten Ralph, and her fashionable destruction is sure to charm little ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)