Letters from a Desperate Dog

Desperate Dog

by Eileen Christelow

Poor Emma is a pup with a problem. Her human, George, constantly misunderstands her. No matter how hard she tries to please him, it's just "Bad! Bad! Bad!" all day long. Tired of feeling unappreciated, Emma finally writes to "Dear Queenie," who, like any good canine advice columnist, suggests that Emma get off the couch and make herself useful--perhaps even find a career. Before she knows it, Emma is a successful stage actor with a traveling theater company, and her troubles at home are far behind her. There's just one problem . . . she can't stop thinking about George!
The way Emma solves her dilemma and eventually works things out with George is sure to delight readers. Drawn in an accessible comic-book style, and inspired by Eileen Christelow's real-life dog, here is an absolutely hilarious take on unconditional love and the importance of finding one's true calling.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Dogs, Humor, Animals, Fiction, Art

32 pages, ebook

First published October 16, 2006

About the author

Eileen Christelow is an acclaimed American author and illustrator of children’s books, best known for her beloved Five Little Monkeys series. Beginning with Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, a playful retelling of the classic nursery rhyme, the series has captivated generations of young readers with its humor and rhythmic storytelling. Over the course of her career, Christelow has published more than 30 books, encompassing both fiction and nonfiction, and many inspired by her surroundings in Vermont, her family life, and even her dog, Emma.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1943, Christelow spent her formative years in Connecticut and briefly in Japan, where she attended the American School in Tokyo. She studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, a discipline that would influence her later work in design and illustration. After working for several years as a freelance photographer, she turned her focus to writing and illustrating picture books while raising her daughter in California. Her earliest works, Henry and the Red Stripes and Mr. Murphy’s Marvelous Invention, were published by Clarion Books in the early 1980s.
Christelow’s books often celebrate storytelling, curiosity, and mischief, appealing to children and educators alike. Titles like What Do Authors Do?, What Do Illustrators Do?, and Vote! provide engaging nonfiction content for young readers, while others such as Letters From a Desperate Dog and The Great Pig Escape draw on humorous real-life scenarios. Her works have received numerous accolades and several Five Little Monkeys titles have been translated into Spanish and Chinese.
She continues to live and work in East Dummerston, Vermont, in a home designed by her husband, where she draws inspiration from the natural beauty of the state. Christelow remains a cherished voice in children’s literature, with a lasting legacy of entertaining and educating young readers.

Reviews

[Ariel Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little story about a dog who has to write in to an advice column for advice on her human. Interesting way of thinking about how our actions are perceived by others. Plus it has a typing dog.

Strong lines and watercolor art make this book's art have a very cartoon-y look. Slightly unfinished appearance of the artwork is dynamic, but may not appeal to all kids.

Lots of words, with in-text emails and dialogues would make this hard to be a read aloud. It would probably be fun to read together, and older kids would probably appreciate the humor of dealing with adults who don't understand.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like anything about this book. First, this story has already been written and the first book is so much better done. Second, the story was so pointless and poorly executed that I actually felt frustrated by the time I finished. Skip this poor imitation and go check out "Dear Mrs. Larue: Letters from Obedience School" by Mark Teague.

[Nichole · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was weird... dog misbehaves and is worried his person doesn't love him anymore. He looks for advice from a dog advice columnist. And then.. just... it's weird. I didn't buy the reconciliation.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

An all right story about a dog desperate to please his "owner" but he always messes up and seeks advice. I'm not a big fan of the advice.

[Joelle Anthony]

The only Christelow book I haven't liked. It seemed so mean. I read the sequel first, and enjoyed it a lot, though!

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute. also read the next one. great idea. would like to do a story time of it and then have kids write a letter as though their dog/cat is writing it.

[Julianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes! Moral of the story: Stay with your abusive man no matter what!

The art: cute. The premise: cute.
But the trouble starts right away. A female dog gives advice to another female dog on how to improve her relationship with her angry male human. This story blindsided me with the hate/yelling is the same as love message. The it's your job to fix his bad behavior message. The one half hearted apology erases the whole pattern of abuse message.

Lots of ick. Don't read this to kids who have ever experienced any form of abuse. Or any kids.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't particularly love this book but my 3 and 5 year old though it was HILARIOUS. I appreciated that it taught them about some new things - email, advice columns, and applying for a job. Can never start to early!

[Lara Samuels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and will be shared with teachers as a read aloud. Would love to hear what the kids think George’s letters would say.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny story with cute illustrations!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven-year-old son loved this book so much that he decided to do a book report on this book for his free writing assignment. Alas, I cannot use his book report for my review because he wrote about the book, and not how he felt about the book.

I can tell you that the story is cute, and illustrations are cute, and the layout is a bit frenetic.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute story, but kind of sad that the owner calls the puppy "useless" in one spot. :(

[Taurean Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma is a dog with human problems.

Most of the time, life with her human, George, is great, but as every pet (and pet parent) knows, there are days when the kibble hit the fan, and Emma’s overall a good dog, she makes her share of missteps, though George’s temperamental nature doesn't help!
(He’s an artist, they can be moody sometimes…)

Emma, both heartbroken and furious, finally decides it’s time to get some help, in the form of “Dear Queenie.” Queenie's a canine advice columnist, who gives sassy and succinct counsel to pets at the end of their proverbial rope, and under the alias “Desperate Dog” Emma begins a string of correspondence between herself and Queenie, that ultimately leads her to leave George’s home to the cat and be her own dog!

Best known for her “Five Little Monkeys” series, author-illustrator Eileen Christelow brings us a funny and fast-paced tale that dog lovers everywhere will find as much truth as there is fiction.

Inspired by the exploits of the “Original Emma” (the author’s dog who sadly died in 2013) Eileen’s frenetic yet warm illustrations reflect inviting yet quirky tones of the story, fans of “Martha Speaks” will definitely take to Emma’s direct and spunky voice.

The use of the comic panel format (similar to “There’s A Wolf at the Door”) adds a fun twist that is well executed. If you’ve got pups of your own, who are hard-pressed to read (or have read to them) anything in non-comic format, this book surely delight.

As an author myself, I know there are often callous jokes in publishing about authors advised not write about their dogs, if Eileen heard this counsel, I’m SO GLAD she didn’t listen to them!

“Letters From A Desperate Dog” is like reading a “For Better Or Worse” comic strip from the dog’s POV.

Big Words I know, but if the Patterson’s late canine friend, Farley, could read, this might’ve been his favorite book. After all, family issues are a two-way street, even between us and our furry friends.

-Abridged Version of the original review at TalkingAnimalAddicts.com

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered the book The Desperate Dog Writes Again in a cats & dogs book display at my local library. We read that one yesterday and discovered that there was another story featuring Emma and her family, so we immediately put that one on hold and got it right away.

This story explains some of the trouble Emma gets into when she first comes to live with George. We loved her trips to the library, getting online advice from a doggie "Dear Abby", as well as her disastrous attempts to improve her relationship with her owner. The illustrations are colorful and cartoonish and the layout of the book seems to be a cross between a regular picture book and a graphic novel.

Overall, we found these books to be entertaining and fun to read aloud. We enjoyed reading them together.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma the dog lives with her human, George, and a cat. Most of the time they get along fine, but some of George's commands seem a bit unreasonable. (I mean, really, how can you stay off a brand new, comfy looking couch?) Well, one day Emma is so desperate that she e-mails Queenie with the dog advice column. Queenie's suggestions don't seem to work, so eventually Emma takes off. Of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder and George sets off to look for Emma. But with this relationship things can change on a dime, so Queenie's address is never far from Emma's mind.

[Bailey Scales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letters from a Desperate Dog was quite entertaining. My parents just got a new puppy so I could easily imagine their dog writing this book. This book is different in the way it includes emails, for a dog advice columnist, as well as pictures set up like a comic book. The illustrations included lots of thought bubbles from the dog. This book could serve as tool to teach students proper email etiquette, how a newspaper column works, as well as being to relate to those that own a dog. I would read this book to a group of kindergartners or first graders.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

for a booktalk-

Emily lives with George, the painter, and George's cat.

After an extremely bad morning, when George scolds Emma for
- sleeping on the new couch
- getting into the trash
Emma leaves the house and gets a copy of the local newspaper "The Weekly Bone".

(Read pages 3-9)

Will Queenie's advice help Emma get back into George's good graces. Check out "Letters from a Desperate Dog" by Eileen Christelow and find out.

[Jaimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dog writes to the paper for help dealing with his owner who just doesn't understand him. He tries to follow her directions but things just keep going wrong and he doesn't understand why. This book was a good idea but I felt like the owner was little too mean to the dog. I just couldn't identify with this book but I don't own a dog so that might have been part of the problem.

[Kathryn Sample · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book at first by its looks. It had a dog on the cover and the title peaked my interest. I read the book and did enjoy it. However I struggled to find its relevance in the elementary classroom. The book was entertaining and had colorful illustrations but a lot of text on each page (especially with the emails) and would be difficult for the younger children to understand.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this adorable picture book! As would any dog lover. Emma's human is driving her crazy, it's bad, bad, bad all day long, what's a dog to do? So Emma e-mails her problems to "Ask Queenie" to find out the best way to handle her human! Hilarious!

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't't a fan because it was long and I had to explain a lot of the book for an E reader level, which my daughter has just become. she says she thought the book was good, especially in the messy house part.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny picture book taking the epistolary format online. Instead of letters, the Desperate Dog writes emails to an advice columnist. While he find happiness with his George? How does these exchanges lead to the Desperate Dog becoming a famous actor? Great read aloud for those letter writing units.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the tradition of Martha the talking dog, this dog just isn't quite as lovable.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally hilarious.

[Squishy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that a dog types on a computer. I like that there is a kitty too and the kitty looks soft and fluffy.

[z.diddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is funny because the dog is on the computer.

[Sara Ansted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[April Thompson Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This story was frustrating to read. There were more sour feelings toward the dog than good moments.

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for young children. This book can help realize that friendship is more important than being mad. It can also show children that it is okay to talk to others about a problem.

[↜ƈɦǟռ☂ɛℓℓɛ↝ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperate dog asks Dear Queenie for advice.