Bogart and Vinnie

Starred review from July 8, 2013
The heart wants what the hearts wants. Case in point: Vinnie, a "crazy-happy" dog (and seldom has a description been more apt) who wanders into a nature preserve for exotic animals and decides that his new best friend is Bogart, a hulking, solitude-loving rhino. "Nobody knew what attracted Vinnie to Bogart," Vernick (Brothers at Bat) muses. "Was it his color? His shape? His horn? His other horn? The way he completely ignored Vinnie?" Athough Bogart looks like he'd rather be anywhere than at Vinnie's side, this unlikely combo of perpetually panting irrepressibleness and weltschmerz—a yin and yang of expressiveness that Cole (Nelly May Has Her Say) illustrates with panache—becomes a global sensation and forms "the kind of family where one member loves the other and one wants nothing more than to be left alone. But still, a family." It's a witty, bighearted story that makes full use of this duo's comic talents while poking gentle fun at the human tendency to coo over interspecies friendships (and then turn them into children's books). Ages 4 – 8. Author's agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

May 1, 2013

Gr 1-3-Vinnie, a friendly but hyperactive mutt, is lost. While following Hap, a Wildlands Preserve worker, the dog bolts into the park when he spies the gate to the preserve. Vinnie is excited about the many new friends he can make: giraffes, zebras, leopards, parrots. Each creature is his best friend until he meets the next one. Way in the back, all alone in the peace and quiet of the rhino range, is Bogart, and Vinnie is quite taken with him. "I love you! I'm Vinnie! Hi!" he says, tail wagging and tongue lagging. Hap knows that Vinnie could be in danger, but he cannot lure the pup from Bogart's side. As a matter of fact, Vinnie discovers that it's great fun to play follow the leader, and he tails Bogart everywhere. Meanwhile, Vinnie's boy, Ethan, is looking high and low for his pet. Then Vinnie and Bogart are featured on the news. Before long, boy and dog are reunited, but nobody wants to split up Vinnie's new family of animal friends. They all move to Ethan's house, where they live together "in peace and harmony....Except the neighbors." The cartoon illustrations are done in acrylics, colored pencil, and ink. Vinnie is goofy-looking and appealing, but this is a rather slight story that will be more suitable as a supplemental purchase.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
This story of an unlikely animal friendship is an unnecessary send-up of the plethora of videotaped accounts of interspecies pals but still has its charms. Ever since, and possibly before, Horton decided to sit on that egg, the celebration of warm bonds between disparate animals has been a staple of picture-book friendship stories. A "crazy-happy" dog finds himself in a wild-animal preserve, where he discovers intriguing new friends: a pair of zebras, five brightly colored parrots and, finally, the impressively horned Bogart, a square-lipped (white) rhinoceros. Enthusiastic Vinnie wears his doggy heart on his sleeve; Bogart remains impassive, stoic and long-suffering as he endures the attentions of the dog. Cole, impressively versatile as always, here works in a style that calls to mind animated Saturday-morning cartoons: Big gestures, broad expressions, round eyes and bright colors, along with dialogue balloons for irrepressible Vinnie, give each spread a lighthearted energy. Children won't need--or won't get--the jokes about fleeting Internet fame (news is news whatever its medium), but they may enjoy the irony in the rosy spin that everyone puts on this animal friendship, and children who enjoy occasional solitude may sigh on poor Bogart's behalf. In a final satirical wink at the way humans admire and celebrate these sorts of animal connections, Vinnie's boy and his family adopt not only the rhino, but also the zebras and parrots, to the dismay of their own, same-species, neighbors. Diverting and comical. (Picture book. 4-7)

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