Art Dog

[Editor's Note: This is a combined review of ANGUS AND THE DUCKS, HARRY THE DIRTY DOG, and OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA] A dog is man's best friend. If that is true, then imagine the level of friendship children share with canines. This four read-alongs is sure to please every kid who loves dogs. Part mystery, part parody, ART DOG will especially tickle kids who know a bit of art history. Arthur Dog guards famous paintings by Vincent Van Dog and Leonardo Dog Vinci at the Dogopolis Museum of Art by day. By night, he transforms into Art Dog and saves the day when the Mona Whoofa is stolen. Funky jazz, realistic sound effects of street scenes and museum openings, and the exaggerated strokes of brushes enhance the mystery and the appeal. T.B. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

February 26, 1996
Talk about a dog marking its territory-by day Arthur Dog is a mild-mannered hound who guards the Dogopolis art museum, but when the moon is full, he becomes Art Dog. Donning beret and mask, he takes paints and brushes and fills the back alleys of the city with his murals. Art Dog remains undiscovered until he's framed for the theft of Leonardo Dog Vinci's Mona Woofa. He's thrown in the clink, but escapes with the help of his superpowered medium (``where there were bars, he painted a window''), nabs the real crooks and gets his own gallery exhibit as a reward. Hurd's (Mama Don't Allow; Mystery on the Docks) straight-from-the-tube palette and blurry brush strokes suggest a painter in speedy action; his art-humor-canine portraits based on canvases by Vermeer, Seurat, Picasso and others line the museum walls-is good-natured. His plot, meanwhile, gleefully invokes comic-book conventions: Art Dog drives a streamlined Brushmobile, stops off at the Wile E. Coyote-esque Acme Paint Co. and battles the baddies in a dynamic spread highly suggestive of TV's goofy Batman (enhanced with cutout shapes a la Matisse). A waggish good time. Ages 4-8.