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Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself
Once upon a time there was a funny dog named Crispin’s Crispian. He was named Crispin’s Crispian because he belonged to himself.So begins the story of a dog who runs bang into a little boy, who also belongs to himself. This quirky, breathtakingly illustrated story is one of Margaret Wise Brown’s best.
24 pages, Hardcover
First published May 13, 1952
8 people are currently reading
830 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
396 books1,227 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
July 21, 2024
I don't understand how anyone can see the cover of this book and not immediately run out and buy it. What a cold dark soul you must have! There is one odd page where Brown describes how Mister Dog and the boy he befriends (who also belongs to himself) are conservatives. I think she means Burkean, not Limbaughian, but it's still kind of a weird moment.
April 4, 2018
This book is perfect in every way and the fact that some readers here disapprove of it makes it even more perfect.
November 9, 2016
I wonder how Margaret Wise Brown pitched this story to the Little Golden Book people?
“Well, Miss Brown, we liked The Color Kittens and The Seven Little Postmen. What have you got for us this time?”
“I’ve decided to take my next book in a slightly different direction. Picture this. A hairy, Republican nudist – no, it’s okay, stay with me – convinces a little homeless boy to come and sleep with him. It has a wonderful moral.”
Perhaps not. Nevertheless, that’s more or less what happens in Mister Dog, surely one of the most peculiar picture story books in existence. It begins with a depressed-looking mutt pouring milk on his cornflakes, dressing-gown gaping open at the front. Why go to the trouble of wearing a dressing-gown and slippers in the morning when you leave the house in the nude? And is that a bone in your pocket or are you just happy to see us? Oh. Oh, it literally is a bone in your pocket.
He certainly doesn’t look happy to see us. In fact, he looks like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Either that or he’s had a massive night and needs hair of the dog rather than cereal and strawberries. Check out the front cover at the top of the page. Look at his eyes. Has Mister Dog has seen disturbing things that he cannot unsee? Or is that something stronger than tobacco in his corncob pipe.
The dog’s name is Crispin’s Crispian. We are told that “he was named Crispin’s Crispian because he belonged to himself”. Okay, so he answers to nobody. An admirable sentiment. But then, if his name is Crispin, why is he called Crispin’s Crispian? Why not Crispin’s Crispin? Where did the “a” come from? And if his name is Crispian, why is he not Crispian’s Crispian? He probably dreamed it up after a session on that pipe.
But the best part is when we are told that Mister Dog is "a conservative". That is a direct quote. And note the italics. It is a word that Margaret Wise Brown wishes to define. “He liked everything at the right time – dinner at dinner time, lunch at lunchtime, breakfast in time for breakfast, and sunrise at sunrise, and sunset at sunset. And at bedtime he liked everything in its own place – the cup in the saucer, the chair under the table, the stars in the heavens, the moon in the sky, and himself in his own little bed.”
Yeah, you gotta watch those damn liberals, they’ll move sunset to the morning just to keep the unions happy. It’ll be a two-hour working day. Only Eisenhower will keep the stars in the heavens and the moon in the sky. A vote for Adlai Stevenson is a vote for chaos.
Still, it’s a rather quaint 1952 view of conservatism. What might the 2016 version say?
“Crispin’s Crispian was a conservative. And not a pathetic thumb-sucking moderate. A proper Tea Party-loving, Trump-voting, gun-toting far right conservative. He liked everything at the right time, which was whenever he damn well wanted. He liked everything in its own place – the cup in the saucer, the chair under the table, and the Mexicans in Mexico, south of the wall.”
Margaret Wise Brown died the same year this was published, and I can’t decide if she was an eccentric genius or a nut-job. She is best known for Goodnight Moon, which was haunting and strange, but Mister Dog is at least a little warmer, thanks to Garth Williams’ fun illustrations. Williams was probably best known for illustrating the classic versions of Charlotte’s Web and the Little House on the Prairie series.
Yet for all the peculiarities (and there are a LOT of them), Mister Dog has a very valid message. Its subtitle is “The Dog Who Belonged to Himself”. He answers to no human family and asks nothing of the state. He is clearly a classic conservative lover of small government.
One day, Mister Dog meets a little boy who is fishing in a stream. “Who and what are you?” Mister Dog asks. The boy replies: “I am a boy, and I belong to myself”. Note that the boy does not introduce himself by name but as “a boy”. Yet another oddity. Mister Dog is glad, and invites the boy to come and live with him. The boy agrees, with an alarming lack of due diligence.
Note the direct quote. Why would Mister Dog say he wanted “to get his poor dog a bone”? He should say “to get my poor dog a bone”. Who edited this stuff? Anyway, then the little boy prances off happily with Crispin/Crispian, blissfully unaware that soon he will be tidying a dog’s living room. They make dinner at Mister Dog’s house and each of them, in Brown’s words “chewed it up and swallowed it into his little fat stomach”. Then boy and dog sleep in side-by-side beds.
The moral of this story is clear: your life is your own, and don’t let anyone else rule it. Mister Dog belongs to himself. The boy belongs to himself. They both act on free will. If the boy can be easily convinced to come and do chores then, hey, that’s just Mister Dog’s good fortune.
For all of Margaret Wise Brown’s oddities, I think she knew how to tap into the brain of a child. The word “belong” resonated with me. As a child, I heard it often. I “belonged” to my parents and my friends “belonged” to theirs. “Who does such-and-such belong to?” adults would ask each other. This never sat well with me, for I felt that nobody owned me. This is the child-like mindset Brown exploits (and which Mister Dog then exploits with the little boy).
But Brown also implies that you’ll be happier if you let people into your life. Look how despondent Mister Dog appeared when preparing his breakfast cereal, back before he had met the boy. And look at how happy he was afterwards. You can be yourself and belong to yourself without having to keep to yourself.
Mister Dog is strange, confusing, disturbing, and utterly unique. And I love it. If I was American and Crispin’s Crispian was on the presidential ticket this year, I’d vote conservative. He wouldn’t build a wall to keep the Mexicans out. Although there is a fence around his house and a sign that says “NO CATS”, so I guess you never know.
https://dadreads.blogspot.com.au/2016...
“Well, Miss Brown, we liked The Color Kittens and The Seven Little Postmen. What have you got for us this time?”
“I’ve decided to take my next book in a slightly different direction. Picture this. A hairy, Republican nudist – no, it’s okay, stay with me – convinces a little homeless boy to come and sleep with him. It has a wonderful moral.”
Perhaps not. Nevertheless, that’s more or less what happens in Mister Dog, surely one of the most peculiar picture story books in existence. It begins with a depressed-looking mutt pouring milk on his cornflakes, dressing-gown gaping open at the front. Why go to the trouble of wearing a dressing-gown and slippers in the morning when you leave the house in the nude? And is that a bone in your pocket or are you just happy to see us? Oh. Oh, it literally is a bone in your pocket.
He certainly doesn’t look happy to see us. In fact, he looks like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Either that or he’s had a massive night and needs hair of the dog rather than cereal and strawberries. Check out the front cover at the top of the page. Look at his eyes. Has Mister Dog has seen disturbing things that he cannot unsee? Or is that something stronger than tobacco in his corncob pipe.
The dog’s name is Crispin’s Crispian. We are told that “he was named Crispin’s Crispian because he belonged to himself”. Okay, so he answers to nobody. An admirable sentiment. But then, if his name is Crispin, why is he called Crispin’s Crispian? Why not Crispin’s Crispin? Where did the “a” come from? And if his name is Crispian, why is he not Crispian’s Crispian? He probably dreamed it up after a session on that pipe.
But the best part is when we are told that Mister Dog is "a conservative". That is a direct quote. And note the italics. It is a word that Margaret Wise Brown wishes to define. “He liked everything at the right time – dinner at dinner time, lunch at lunchtime, breakfast in time for breakfast, and sunrise at sunrise, and sunset at sunset. And at bedtime he liked everything in its own place – the cup in the saucer, the chair under the table, the stars in the heavens, the moon in the sky, and himself in his own little bed.”
Yeah, you gotta watch those damn liberals, they’ll move sunset to the morning just to keep the unions happy. It’ll be a two-hour working day. Only Eisenhower will keep the stars in the heavens and the moon in the sky. A vote for Adlai Stevenson is a vote for chaos.
Still, it’s a rather quaint 1952 view of conservatism. What might the 2016 version say?
“Crispin’s Crispian was a conservative. And not a pathetic thumb-sucking moderate. A proper Tea Party-loving, Trump-voting, gun-toting far right conservative. He liked everything at the right time, which was whenever he damn well wanted. He liked everything in its own place – the cup in the saucer, the chair under the table, and the Mexicans in Mexico, south of the wall.”
Margaret Wise Brown died the same year this was published, and I can’t decide if she was an eccentric genius or a nut-job. She is best known for Goodnight Moon, which was haunting and strange, but Mister Dog is at least a little warmer, thanks to Garth Williams’ fun illustrations. Williams was probably best known for illustrating the classic versions of Charlotte’s Web and the Little House on the Prairie series.
Yet for all the peculiarities (and there are a LOT of them), Mister Dog has a very valid message. Its subtitle is “The Dog Who Belonged to Himself”. He answers to no human family and asks nothing of the state. He is clearly a classic conservative lover of small government.
One day, Mister Dog meets a little boy who is fishing in a stream. “Who and what are you?” Mister Dog asks. The boy replies: “I am a boy, and I belong to myself”. Note that the boy does not introduce himself by name but as “a boy”. Yet another oddity. Mister Dog is glad, and invites the boy to come and live with him. The boy agrees, with an alarming lack of due diligence.
Then they went to a butcher shop – "to get his poor dog a bone," Crispian said. Now, since Crispin’s Crispian belonged to himself, he gave himself the bone and trotted home with it.
Note the direct quote. Why would Mister Dog say he wanted “to get his poor dog a bone”? He should say “to get my poor dog a bone”. Who edited this stuff? Anyway, then the little boy prances off happily with Crispin/Crispian, blissfully unaware that soon he will be tidying a dog’s living room. They make dinner at Mister Dog’s house and each of them, in Brown’s words “chewed it up and swallowed it into his little fat stomach”. Then boy and dog sleep in side-by-side beds.
The moral of this story is clear: your life is your own, and don’t let anyone else rule it. Mister Dog belongs to himself. The boy belongs to himself. They both act on free will. If the boy can be easily convinced to come and do chores then, hey, that’s just Mister Dog’s good fortune.
For all of Margaret Wise Brown’s oddities, I think she knew how to tap into the brain of a child. The word “belong” resonated with me. As a child, I heard it often. I “belonged” to my parents and my friends “belonged” to theirs. “Who does such-and-such belong to?” adults would ask each other. This never sat well with me, for I felt that nobody owned me. This is the child-like mindset Brown exploits (and which Mister Dog then exploits with the little boy).
But Brown also implies that you’ll be happier if you let people into your life. Look how despondent Mister Dog appeared when preparing his breakfast cereal, back before he had met the boy. And look at how happy he was afterwards. You can be yourself and belong to yourself without having to keep to yourself.
Mister Dog is strange, confusing, disturbing, and utterly unique. And I love it. If I was American and Crispin’s Crispian was on the presidential ticket this year, I’d vote conservative. He wouldn’t build a wall to keep the Mexicans out. Although there is a fence around his house and a sign that says “NO CATS”, so I guess you never know.
https://dadreads.blogspot.com.au/2016...
September 29, 2014
Margaret Wise Brown wrote my favorite childhood book Home For a Bunny. She also wrote Goodnight Moon which is one of my favorite books to read to my kids. Surely I would love a book about Mister Dog the pipe smoking dog who belongs to himself!
It turns out Mister Dog is not his name. His name is actually Crispin's Crispian.
Sure. That makes perfect sense.
This is one odd little book.
It seems there are people who are against this book due to the pipe smoking and the fact that a little boy goes home with the dog, etc., etc. It's a 1950's Golden Book with a pipe smoking dog. I'm not sure what folks really expect, but I do know that I expected a nice story at the heart of Mister Dog. Unfortunately, this book was a weird mess with one odd event after another.
The writing style changed several times throughout the book which added to the overall strangeness.
The only way I would recommend Mister Dog is in the "Hey, you want to see a really strange book?" kind of way. I haven't read this to my kids, and I don't plan to. I remember their reaction to But No Elephants. I'm not bringing them down that road again.
All I can say is I'm a glutton for punishment. After writing this review I decided I'd try reading Mister Dog to my kids after all. My oldest declared: "That doesn't make any sense." I knew better. I really did.
It turns out Mister Dog is not his name. His name is actually Crispin's Crispian.
"His name was Crispin's Crispian because he belonged to himself."
Sure. That makes perfect sense.
This is one odd little book.
"He was a funny old dog. He liked Strawberries."
It seems there are people who are against this book due to the pipe smoking and the fact that a little boy goes home with the dog, etc., etc. It's a 1950's Golden Book with a pipe smoking dog. I'm not sure what folks really expect, but I do know that I expected a nice story at the heart of Mister Dog. Unfortunately, this book was a weird mess with one odd event after another.
"This evening he made a bone soup with lots of meat in it. He gave some to the boy, and the boy liked it. The boy didn't give Caspian his chop bone, but he put some of his bright green vegetable in the soup."
The writing style changed several times throughout the book which added to the overall strangeness.
The only way I would recommend Mister Dog is in the "Hey, you want to see a really strange book?" kind of way. I haven't read this to my kids, and I don't plan to. I remember their reaction to But No Elephants. I'm not bringing them down that road again.
All I can say is I'm a glutton for punishment. After writing this review I decided I'd try reading Mister Dog to my kids after all. My oldest declared: "That doesn't make any sense." I knew better. I really did.
February 17, 2012
I wasn't a huge fan of this book as a kid. It was in a large anthology of Little Golden Books. (I have no idea how that anthology came to our family, now that I think of it). I may have been in middle school before I read it.
What I remember about this book is that (like the title says) the dog belonged to himself. Also, there is a boy who belonged to himself. I think the book said something like he was "his very own boy." That really stuck with me. This story made it seem so reasonable for a person to be his/her very own person and belong to him/herself.
Many many many years later I was hanging out with kids, being their adult caregiver person and a woman asked me if one of them was mine. "Is that your boy?" she said. Because of this book, I told her he was his own boy. She got really frustrated with me (even though she was projecting a persona as a free spirited hippy who should have had at least a clue of what I was talking about) and repeatedly asked me if he was my boy. I kept telling her that he was his own boy, until she finally asked me if I was his mother and I said no. Sometimes it's fun to annoy people who should know better.
What I remember about this book is that (like the title says) the dog belonged to himself. Also, there is a boy who belonged to himself. I think the book said something like he was "his very own boy." That really stuck with me. This story made it seem so reasonable for a person to be his/her very own person and belong to him/herself.
Many many many years later I was hanging out with kids, being their adult caregiver person and a woman asked me if one of them was mine. "Is that your boy?" she said. Because of this book, I told her he was his own boy. She got really frustrated with me (even though she was projecting a persona as a free spirited hippy who should have had at least a clue of what I was talking about) and repeatedly asked me if he was my boy. I kept telling her that he was his own boy, until she finally asked me if I was his mother and I said no. Sometimes it's fun to annoy people who should know better.
June 24, 2015
Really, really bizarre. But I should have expected that from a book that I only found because it was weird enough to be shared on buzzfeed and imgur.
February 25, 2018
Aww, what a wonderful story of two independent souls who become housemates (with separate beds, of course). Read (for the first time ever) in [b:Story Land: 40 Of The Best Little Golden Books Ever Published|1786505|. Want to read again. Especially because I found a possible reference to the dog's name, in Shakespeare's Henry V: https://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/0....
December 29, 2024
What I wanted: a cute little book about a dog from the author of Goodnight Moon
What I got: a political treatise on the value of conservatism and toxic individualism
What I got: a political treatise on the value of conservatism and toxic individualism
December 30, 2012
Where was the climax? I need a climax, damn it!!
August 28, 2018
This book gave me the creeps and I had to "disappear" it from my daughter's shelf!
May 26, 2020
After much searching, I finally found the first book that emotionally screwed me over and left me seeking happiness in this cruel, cruel world.
Let me start by emphasizing the artwork of this book. While all Little Golden Books have a classic, nostalgic approach to drawings, the way that emotion is captured in this book in particular is enough to wreak emotional havoc (and it does.) For example:
Like ??? How do you look at that and NOT instantly start crying?
The themes of connection and loss are so beautifully made in this book, and you learn to find comfort in not only Mister Dog's joys, but his melancholy too. This is the sublime Little Golden Book, rivaled by none, adored by all.
Let me start by emphasizing the artwork of this book. While all Little Golden Books have a classic, nostalgic approach to drawings, the way that emotion is captured in this book in particular is enough to wreak emotional havoc (and it does.) For example:
Like ??? How do you look at that and NOT instantly start crying?
The themes of connection and loss are so beautifully made in this book, and you learn to find comfort in not only Mister Dog's joys, but his melancholy too. This is the sublime Little Golden Book, rivaled by none, adored by all.
April 16, 2020
Read on IG by Mac Barnett 4/15/20
July 30, 2022
Genuinely one of the weirdest children’s picture books I have ever read
February 18, 2023
Mister dog is a great story that reveals the joys of conservatism. I enjoyed the illustrations by Garth Williams. The expressions on the faces of Mister dog, other animals and the boy were ideal.
February 19, 2010
Mister Dog is about Crispin's Crispian (aka Mister Dog) who belongs to no one. He befriends a little boy who belongs to no one and they decide to live together in the dog's 2 story doghouse. (I want to sleep in Mister Dog's bed, it just looks so comfy!)
This book is really cute and a little weird at the same time, but a good weird! A warning to some parents, it is like Curious George and has animals smoking tobacco pipes lol.
I also really love the illustrations and my son loves them too! Well really, what's not to like about a pipe smoking, straw hat wearing dog?
This book is really cute and a little weird at the same time, but a good weird! A warning to some parents, it is like Curious George and has animals smoking tobacco pipes lol.
I also really love the illustrations and my son loves them too! Well really, what's not to like about a pipe smoking, straw hat wearing dog?
November 22, 2008
Mister Dog belongs to himself, he takes himself where he wants to go, and at night, he dreams his own dreams. But there is room in his life and his two story dog house for the boy who belonged to himself. I loved this book as a child and as a teenager. When I read it to my two-year old, we pretend to go inside Mister Dog's house with the boy who belonged to himself. More gentle nonsense from Margaret Wise Brown, this time with a liberating pulse.
April 17, 2011
I read Mister Dog over and over again to my children. The language still resonates: “He was a funny old dog. He liked strawberries.” Mister Dog posted a No Cats sign in his yard which amused my kids to no end. Reading this book aloud always seemed comfortable and cozy. It’s a great bedtime book.
January 12, 2008
this was one of my all-time favorite books as a wee child, mostly because of the art and the hilarity of a "dog that belonged to himself".
became one of my favorite books as a wee adult, mostly because of the following line: "crispin's crispian was a conservative."
became one of my favorite books as a wee adult, mostly because of the following line: "crispin's crispian was a conservative."
February 2, 2008
"Crispin's Crispian was a conservative." So Margaret Wise Brown describes the main character, a dog who belongs to himself.
This is my favorite childhood book of all time. I am hoarding the copies I can find at flea markets and used book sales so that I am never without a copy.
This is my favorite childhood book of all time. I am hoarding the copies I can find at flea markets and used book sales so that I am never without a copy.
October 26, 2011
I read this book over and over as a child. I adored it so much I bought a copy for my daughter when she was a little girl. I still have it. I liked the story of an independent dog living in his own house and living his life, smoking a pipe and cooking. The artwork is fabulous.
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June 13, 2019Mr. Dog was one of my two favorite books from the 1950s. The other one was Henry's Wagon. Mr. Dog was a soft and kind book that reflected not only my innocence as a pre-schooler but the innocence of our entire country as well.
December 25, 2007
Garth Williams! His illustrations are exquisite and the stories are just a wonderful. A classic of classics!
February 14, 2008
The most wonderful children's book EVER.
March 28, 2008
One of my favorite childhood books! My first feelings of nesting.
July 9, 2008
This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up. I still enjoy it. It's a very simple book about friendship and belonging.
August 3, 2008
I hate this book. It makes no sense. I try to hide it on my son's bookshelf so I don't have to read it.
April 11, 2009
Just have your child ignore the various animals smoking cigars/pipes throughout the book.
May 7, 2010
I loved this story as a girl, it was one of my favorites. I remember my Nana reading it to me, it brings back great memories.
October 17, 2010
This book was, hands-down, my favourite as a kid. I loved that a dog would eat strawberries and that he "belonged to himself." I also loved his name, Crispin's Crispian. Definitely recommended!
March 11, 2013
This is one of my childhood favorites! The illustrations are very memorable, I love this little book so much!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews