Running Wild

Upchuck and the Rotten Willy #3

by Bill Wallace

It's not so bad living a dog's life. Unless you're a cat.

Most times, hanging out with Rotten Willy (the huge dog on the cover) was cool. We played chase, talked, and chowed down on spaghetti and meatballs at Luigi's restaurant. Even though he was a dog (and sometimes called me Upchuck instead of Chuck), I could handle it. He was my best friend.

Then this baseball stuff started and Willy went bonkers. I never saw him act so crazy. On top of that, these two new cats moved into our neighborhood. Trouble was, tough-guy Roscoe and his cute fuzzy sister, Rikki, did not like dogs.

Dogs belong with dogs and cats belong with cats, they said.

I was showing them the sights when I suddenly spied the dogcatcher, just waiting to trap Willy as he raced across the field with a baseball in his mouth. But Roscoe and Rikki would never understand if they found out my best friend was a dog. How could I save Willy before it was too late? What's a cat to do when he has to choose between old friends and new -- and there's no time to lose...

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Childrens

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Bill Wallace was an American teacher and later an author of children's books. He started writing to quiet down his fourth grade students, who loved his stories and encouraged him to make “real” books.

Bill Wallace grew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun.

Bill Wallace has won numerous children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

Bill Wallace died from Lung cancer on January 30, 2012.

Former elementary school teacher; West Elementary School, Chickasha, OK, principal, since 1977, and physical education teacher. Speaker at schools and universities in various states, including State University of New York and University of South Florida.

AWARDS:

Bluebonnet Award from Texas Association of School Librarians and Children's Round Table and Sequoyah Children's Book Award from Oklahoma State Department of Education, both 1983, Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Nebraska Golden Sowers Award from Nebraska Library Association, 1985, all for A Dog Called Kitty; Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Pine Tree Book Award, 1985, both for Trapped in Death Cave.

Reviews

[Sarah Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rottweiler, baseball, and mischief. My kinda book. Read it on my plane ride and it was perfect :)

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chuck is a cat and his best friend is Willy the Rottweiler. Willy is Chuck's only friend ever since Louis got smushed by a car and Tom moved away. New houses are being built and sold in the neighborhood. Two new cats move in and they don't like dogs. Chuck has to choose between having a old friend or two new friends.

Reasons why I like this book-

Reason 1- It has a dog.

Reason 2- I couldn't stop reading.

Reason 3- It was a short book.

Reason 4- I could imagine what was happening.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when chuck made new friends.there was no worst part.

[Chance Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is going to age well. It's cleaver, honest, relevant, but you should read the fist two before going into this one.

Cover
I love this cover. True to form and fitting and foreshadowing. It makes sense to the story I will say the cover is a touch more real than the interior drawing. Chuck looks more animated in the illustrations.

Interior
It's been a long time coming. I have to say I appreciate the flashbacks. I actually remember more than I thought I would. Love the tie ins and it's really nice to see how Chuck grows as a character. The reminiscing of the past is a nice touch and all the past nods are a great touch.
The comedy is nice touch. Who doesn't like some animal slapstick now and then.
The moral is done very well and it knows that is shouldn't drag on. The story is forgiving by not dragging on the Cats VS Dogs mentality but points out how much their characters have grown since the first book. I also want to credit the book that it didn't cheap out with a everything good ending.

Illustrations
I LOVE the illustrations. Over the top expressive, fun, and very well done.

Spoilers!
How this book ends I find amazing!
The series starts with three cats before going down to two to Chuck who ends up befriending Willy I can see this cycle starting again as a third cat is brought into the neighborhood Luigi's before these two leave and the cycle continues. I also love how the pets snooker their owners to the back of the restaurant alley for a meal.

[Sharlene Hakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute dog and cat friendship story.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I read this aloud to ds. We wanted a short funny book for a change and have always had success with Bill Wallace (& his wife Carol).

Upchuck and Rotten Willy is very similar to the "Gray Cat Trilogy" we read several years ago. Although this is the last book in the series it didn't make any difference to us, mentions were made of their previous adventures but enough information was given to newcomers about the characters. Chuck is a cat and Willy is a dog and they are best friends. Neither has any other mates in the neighbourhood. But this day two new cats move in and wander into Chuck's yard. They are a bit uppity but Chuck makes friends with them and spends a nice day with them. He learns quickly though that they are dog-haters and he agonises over what to do about Willy. Should he drop Willy as a friend, I mean cats should play with other cats, right? Or should he introduce his new friends to Willy and hope for the best that they might change their minds this one time, though it is hardly likely?

Written in Chuck the cat's narrative we have a simple tale that honestly reflects dog and cat behaviour. Is quite funny. Sending us both into little giggle fits at times. The story is fun-filled with lots of action, with baseball being a minor theme and as always with Bill Wallace a short pleasure to read.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought the story was a bit boring, as there was a description of a baseball game from a cat's point of view and flashbacks to the first Upchuck and Willy book, which I've read. But the story soon grabbed my interest, as Chuck the cat meets 2 new neighbor cats, whom he likes, but at the same time worries that they won't like his best friend Willy, a big smelly dog. It became a story about prejudices and what true friendship really is. I loved the ending, and I can imagine a third book in the series in which the 2 new cats are made to change their minds and they all become friends. I enjoy the cat's eye view of life, and hope there are more books about these two. Recommended.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably my favorite of the three Upchuck books. It has a really good moral to it, but it's still just as silly and fun as the other two.