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Bow-Wow
Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug
Bow-Wow may look like your average terrier. The streets he walks may seem familiar. But just around the corner, things get a little unusual. With nary a word, Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash have created a story about a bold new doggy who goes where no doggy has gone before. With a spring in his step and his tail only occasionally between his legs, Bow-Wow faces down every foe--well, almost every foe--in his path.Step aside, mutts. There's a new dog in town. (20070601)
56 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
February 23, 2018
A Bug Bugs Bow-Wow might be a more appropriate title, as this intrepid pooch harries a hapless insect. If only Bow-Wow had opposable thumbs and this:
December 2, 2008
An unexpected treasure found in a wordless picture book.
Ages 3-8
I found this book delightful in its simplicity. The bum-sniffing, bug obsessed Bow-Wow leads readers on an adventure through the neighborhood where he encounters all sorts of zany characters. A young child would delight in watching this bug versus dog story unfold.
The comic strip style illustrations are simple, colorful and fun, yet are filled with details to discover that make the story new each time through. The off the wall story is both intriguing and silly. Clever and original, this story is sure to be a hit for all. Non readers will enjoy creating their own words to this delightful tale.
Publishers Weekly
This wordless sequence of comic panels, the first in a planned Bow-Wow Books series, is an eminently charming and surreal twist on what might otherwise be just another of the dog days of summer. Garbage Pail Kids creator Newgarden and Cash (What Makes the Seasons?) create a kind of silent feature, composing each orderly panel with a beefy black line and saturated digital colors. Bow-Wow himself, a golden-yellow terrier, has oval-dot eyes and an expressive brow that convey a broad range of emotions as he goes about his day. The action centers on his pursuit of a pesky black bug, which hops to the edge of his dog dish in the morning. With his nose to the ground and brow furrowed in concentration, Bow-Wow tracks the bug down the sidewalk where, in swift succession, gags pile up and absurdities bloom. Bow-Wow encounters a Doppelganger and the duo (as well as their respective insects) engages in an increasingly zany series of mirrored movements. Bow-Wow then meets an enormous lookalike who has been pursuing an equally oversize insect; when Bow-Wow flees this pair of behemoths, he rounds a corner to find a wild convoy of dogs sniffing after bugs. (Turning yet another corner, he is stunned to discover an array of giant insects chasing after minuscule dogs.) Newgarden and Cash use a varied layout of panels to great effect (three spreads are dedicated to close-ups of Bow-Wow's blinking disbelief as the enormous creepy-crawlies charge toward him), making this outing, which in less skilled hands might have read like a Sunday comic strip, feel enormously fresh and modern. Ages 3-7. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
A good description and this does feel fresh and modern. An excellent review.
Kirkus Reviews
A little black speck of a bug leads a feisty yellow terrier on an increasingly surreal trip around his neighborhood in a brilliantly whimsical wordless romp. When the bug descends on Bow-Wow's dog dish, a scowl descends on his features and off he sets to teach it a lesson. Comic-strip panels advance the action with perfect pacing, the Photoshopped sameness of Bow-Wow's suburban neighborhood providing a bland, impossibly regular background to ever more zany situations, which include meeting mirror images of himself and the bug, encountering giant-sized versions of both himself and the bug and armies of bug-pursuing dogs and dog-pursuing bugs. Long shots and close-ups hilariously assist in the progress of the narrative, cinematic convention adapting perfectly to the medium. The aforementioned blandly regular background combines with bold, clean lines and a sunnily uncomplicated palette to keep what might in other hands be a rather terrifying journey into 1950s horror/sci fi from overwhelming young readers. Call it a kinder, gentler Twilight Zone in which the doughty protagonist is allowed to return home to bowl and bed at the end of the day. Thoroughly inspired. (Picture book. 4-10)
A nice description of the illustrations, but I would have liked a bit more about the plot, however, they are right on with thoroughly inspired.
Ages 3-8
I found this book delightful in its simplicity. The bum-sniffing, bug obsessed Bow-Wow leads readers on an adventure through the neighborhood where he encounters all sorts of zany characters. A young child would delight in watching this bug versus dog story unfold.
The comic strip style illustrations are simple, colorful and fun, yet are filled with details to discover that make the story new each time through. The off the wall story is both intriguing and silly. Clever and original, this story is sure to be a hit for all. Non readers will enjoy creating their own words to this delightful tale.
Publishers Weekly
This wordless sequence of comic panels, the first in a planned Bow-Wow Books series, is an eminently charming and surreal twist on what might otherwise be just another of the dog days of summer. Garbage Pail Kids creator Newgarden and Cash (What Makes the Seasons?) create a kind of silent feature, composing each orderly panel with a beefy black line and saturated digital colors. Bow-Wow himself, a golden-yellow terrier, has oval-dot eyes and an expressive brow that convey a broad range of emotions as he goes about his day. The action centers on his pursuit of a pesky black bug, which hops to the edge of his dog dish in the morning. With his nose to the ground and brow furrowed in concentration, Bow-Wow tracks the bug down the sidewalk where, in swift succession, gags pile up and absurdities bloom. Bow-Wow encounters a Doppelganger and the duo (as well as their respective insects) engages in an increasingly zany series of mirrored movements. Bow-Wow then meets an enormous lookalike who has been pursuing an equally oversize insect; when Bow-Wow flees this pair of behemoths, he rounds a corner to find a wild convoy of dogs sniffing after bugs. (Turning yet another corner, he is stunned to discover an array of giant insects chasing after minuscule dogs.) Newgarden and Cash use a varied layout of panels to great effect (three spreads are dedicated to close-ups of Bow-Wow's blinking disbelief as the enormous creepy-crawlies charge toward him), making this outing, which in less skilled hands might have read like a Sunday comic strip, feel enormously fresh and modern. Ages 3-7. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
A good description and this does feel fresh and modern. An excellent review.
Kirkus Reviews
A little black speck of a bug leads a feisty yellow terrier on an increasingly surreal trip around his neighborhood in a brilliantly whimsical wordless romp. When the bug descends on Bow-Wow's dog dish, a scowl descends on his features and off he sets to teach it a lesson. Comic-strip panels advance the action with perfect pacing, the Photoshopped sameness of Bow-Wow's suburban neighborhood providing a bland, impossibly regular background to ever more zany situations, which include meeting mirror images of himself and the bug, encountering giant-sized versions of both himself and the bug and armies of bug-pursuing dogs and dog-pursuing bugs. Long shots and close-ups hilariously assist in the progress of the narrative, cinematic convention adapting perfectly to the medium. The aforementioned blandly regular background combines with bold, clean lines and a sunnily uncomplicated palette to keep what might in other hands be a rather terrifying journey into 1950s horror/sci fi from overwhelming young readers. Call it a kinder, gentler Twilight Zone in which the doughty protagonist is allowed to return home to bowl and bed at the end of the day. Thoroughly inspired. (Picture book. 4-10)
A nice description of the illustrations, but I would have liked a bit more about the plot, however, they are right on with thoroughly inspired.
October 23, 2008
This picture only book is fun and recommended for anyone K-5 who likes a good story or dogs. The frames start off easily enough as a dog wakes up and discovers a flea on his food bowl. Things progress quickly towards a more complicated series of events that will give the story tellers among you plenty of opportunity to embelish their re-telling.
I was particularly taken with the number of expressions given the protagonist and his antics when he encounters another dog just like himself. I use this book to talk to my K-5 classes about context clues. How does this dog feel? How do we know?
Reviews:
1)Horn Book (July/August, 2007)
2)School Library Journal (July 1, 2007)
Both reviews are favorable calling the book "humorous" or "funny, quirky, and even suspenseful" While complimentary neither review states this is a must have in your library. School Library Journal points out it does teach children to read in sequence left to right and "will be most appreciated by youngsters who have the patience and interest to examine and decode the pictures"
On the basis of these recommendations I would be inclined to purchase it if I were looking to increase my non-text picture book collection.
I was particularly taken with the number of expressions given the protagonist and his antics when he encounters another dog just like himself. I use this book to talk to my K-5 classes about context clues. How does this dog feel? How do we know?
Reviews:
1)Horn Book (July/August, 2007)
2)School Library Journal (July 1, 2007)
Both reviews are favorable calling the book "humorous" or "funny, quirky, and even suspenseful" While complimentary neither review states this is a must have in your library. School Library Journal points out it does teach children to read in sequence left to right and "will be most appreciated by youngsters who have the patience and interest to examine and decode the pictures"
On the basis of these recommendations I would be inclined to purchase it if I were looking to increase my non-text picture book collection.
December 27, 2014
Now, if THIS got the Caldecott instead of the usual hipster crap I would love it. Which is why I'm breaking my habit of not giving 5 stars to titles and handing it to this book.
What a book. I liked it from the start and by the time I got to the page with the Dalmation I just gave up and loved it. I am normally NOT a fan of wordless picture books but this one needs no words. Funny, creative with a Warner Brothers sort of sensibility, hand this to your older preschooler, your kindergartener or your first grader. And then hand it to their elementary or teenaged sibling. Love it, love it, love it!
What a book. I liked it from the start and by the time I got to the page with the Dalmation I just gave up and loved it. I am normally NOT a fan of wordless picture books but this one needs no words. Funny, creative with a Warner Brothers sort of sensibility, hand this to your older preschooler, your kindergartener or your first grader. And then hand it to their elementary or teenaged sibling. Love it, love it, love it!
April 6, 2008
(SPL catalog) A wordless picture book about a persistent terrier who spends a day following a bug through his neighborhood.
(Claudia) Bow-Wow, drawn in simple but expressive cartoon-style, varies humorously realistic doggy behavior with delightful fantasy episodes and laugh-out-loud unexpected encounters. Mid-sized. Suitable for pre-K to early elementary children.
(SLJ) Clever plot is funny, quirky, even suspenseful ... best appreciated by youngsters with patience to examine and decode the pictures.
(Hornbook) Appealing pop-art style cartoons ... simple black lines and dots do the speaking ... [in] a series of comic encounters.
(Claudia) Bow-Wow, drawn in simple but expressive cartoon-style, varies humorously realistic doggy behavior with delightful fantasy episodes and laugh-out-loud unexpected encounters. Mid-sized. Suitable for pre-K to early elementary children.
(SLJ) Clever plot is funny, quirky, even suspenseful ... best appreciated by youngsters with patience to examine and decode the pictures.
(Hornbook) Appealing pop-art style cartoons ... simple black lines and dots do the speaking ... [in] a series of comic encounters.
July 11, 2008
I do love wordless books, and goshdarn if this isn't an excellent one. Bow-Wow, a yellow dog, follows a little black bug around town, and gets into several surreal situations (including, but not limited to, meeting a GIANT version of himself, and [my daughter's favorite part] running into a pack of GIANT BUGS all chasing tiny dogs!) along the way. There's plenty of meaning and various levels of humor in these bright, bold illustrations -- kids and adults will find plenty to laugh and wonder at.
December 21, 2014
A marvelous, transcendent tale. Unpredictable, yet not a hot mess as it defies your attempts to make assumptions about where the narrative is going. So what if bugs don't sniff other bugs' rear ends? This wordless book is an instant classic. I haven't been this moved by a work of fiction since I watched Adaptation. in a friend's basement after an all night bender in Atlantic City. The first thing I had to do after finishing it was immediately read it again.
April 5, 2012
Adorable, brilliantly creative wordless story of a dog and a bug--and another dog and another bug, and much more. Offers tons of scope for imagination (to quote Anne Shirley/L.M. Montgomery), with enough fascinating bits to view and talk about over and over again for both lapsitters and parents/adults.
November 18, 2022
Make up your own story with this wordless graphic-novel-style book for the youngest readers!
May 21, 2008
Wordless, like a comic book. Funny. I loved it!
May 30, 2008
* mind opening
* stretching
* alternate realities
* stretching
* alternate realities
July 28, 2008
Picture books without words are usually a lot of fun; this one was no exception. In strip after strip Bow-Wow follows an annoying bug all around town. Very entertaining pictures.
November 10, 2008
Awesome graphic illustrations. No word just picture panels about a dog following his bug around and all the other dogs in the neighborhood doing the same. Super cute and funny.
August 13, 2007
Just really fun!
October 14, 2018
I thought this book had great illustrations, the big bugs toward the end of the book were great! The book contained no words, which I didn't realize until I opened it up to read. I thought it was really cool getting to watch the dog follow the bug and then the bug follow the dog and them go back and forth on it. I liked being able to see the dogs compete with emotions and then the bugs copied and did the same. I think this book is good for young children because they can comprehend the illustrations and guess what they show and predict what will happen next.
December 9, 2024
Bow Wow's hilarious pursuit of a bug is the subject of this lighthearted book. It is ideal for very young children who enjoy simple stories because of its lively and captivating illustrations. Older readers, however, might not be captivated by the scant text and shallow content. Even though it's a short and humorous read, it's more of an enjoyable experience than a memorable tale. Excellent for young children, but not so much for others.
December 20, 2024
Wow ugh the cover in person isn't bad but something about the image on my phone is freaky! Anyway, bow wow works better in this longer, more complex picture book format than the board books we first discovered a while back. They almost read like wordless, interrelated comic strips. Otto seemed to enjoy them.
November 14, 2018
Wordless picture book
The dog discovers a bug (flea?) and follows it around town. Along the way, he encounters other dogs and giant bugs.
The story felt disjointed though the illustrations were terrific.
The dog discovers a bug (flea?) and follows it around town. Along the way, he encounters other dogs and giant bugs.
The story felt disjointed though the illustrations were terrific.
February 21, 2019
Totally NOT a fan of wordless books, but this one is a gem! What a marvelous imagination tale! No, it doesn't make logical sense, but that's the point! It starts out normal, but keeps getting stranger and stranger and stranger as the imagination takes over. Great one to explore with a child.
May 11, 2019
In this wordless book, the little terrier still has lots to say. It is a great story to get children to use their imagination on what is happening. Bow Wow has a bug that takes him on quite an adventure for a day. The illustrations are simple but very expressive.
March 22, 2019
I'm not really a fan of wordless picture books. This might make a good lap read for a preK to 3rd grader who loves dogs or bugs. It has a bit of humor to it, but it's definitely not appropriate for story time.
April 2, 2019
Throughout this book the dogs follow bugs and runs into many things that scare him. In the end he runs into many insects chasing dogs and then runs home. I think children would like this book and find the ending very ironic and funny.
February 8, 2018
Super cute book! This is a wordless picture that tells the story of a dog chasing down a bug! You see all the critters he meets and all the goofy stuff he gets into.
November 19, 2018
A great wordless book - my preschoolers had a lot of fun making up the story.
February 8, 2019
A dog sees a bug. He follows the bug, along with other dogs following too. In the end the bug follows the dog home to where he sleeps.
March 8, 2019
wordless picture book
March 27, 2019
Hilarious and adorable! Winner of 2008 Buckeye Children's and Teen Book Award, grades K-2
July 3, 2019
Loved it. It's a wordless book that tells a great tale through very simple illustrations.
August 21, 2020
For: dog fans; readers looking for a wordless book.
Possible red flags: gigantic bugs and dogs.
Possible red flags: gigantic bugs and dogs.
August 28, 2021
So silly and cute, love it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews