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Dog Food

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For dog lovers of all ages, a banquet of (pepper) puppy puns!

Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers have wowed readers with the funny food faces of HOW ARE YOU PEELING, the underwater vegetable visions of ONE LONELY SEAHORSE and the lush produce landscapes of GUS AND BUTTON. Now with DOG FOOD, the duo turns its talents to the canine realm, wittily reworking familiar doggy phrases for a whole new level of humor and meaning. These pepper pooches and mango mutts are guaranteed to charm dog owners, dog lovers, and even -- dare we say it -- cat fans. Chow down!

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

2 people are currently reading
94 people want to read

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Saxton Freymann

37 books19 followers

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5 stars
138 (45%)
4 stars
93 (30%)
3 stars
51 (16%)
2 stars
15 (4%)
1 star
6 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for Lisa Vegan.
2,915 reviews1,318 followers
May 7, 2012
I’ve always liked (but not usually loved) these “play with your food” type books, creating pictures by using various foods, particularly when fruits and vegetables are the foods being sculpted.

This one, all dogs, is adorable. It’s appropriate from ages birth on. Each page has one or a few sculptures and a very short description, such as “good dog” and “top dog” and “sick as a dog” and “dog eat dog” among others, and the illustrations fit those captions.

I love many of the doggy depictions. The poodle made from broccoli is really great, as is a bone made from cauliflower, and so are “puppy love” and “lucky dog” and “pup tent” but really all are great. There are a couple aggressive scenes but most pages are on the sweet side.

Because I love dogs so much, this is probably my favorite of this series of food art books.
Profile Image for Kaethe.
6,572 reviews531 followers
August 21, 2018
2004, January 1

These books crack me up. We spend ages peering at them to work out the details of how they're made. Also, we're fans of bad puns.


***


This is exactly the sort of book that makes the teenagers roll their eyes at me. But I am stalwart. Once I have an image such as one of these in my mind, nothing will do but that I check out every one the library has.




Library copy
Profile Image for Heidi Burkhart.
2,792 reviews61 followers
September 17, 2017
Just delightful! Though this is a picture book with little text I think that adults may enjoy it even more than children.
Profile Image for Jamie.
128 reviews3 followers
October 16, 2010
This book is very simple. There are about 2 words on each page. Students could definitely read this book. What makes it interesting are the illustrations and the puns used throughout. The illustrations are fun to look at because all of the dogs are made from food. They are a fun take on illustrations. You could talk about how you wouldn't normally think of making animals out of food. Then when it comes to making images out of different shapes you could make the connection that you have to think outside of the box and use what you have to make your vision. It's a really, simple, cute, fun book!
Profile Image for Janae Hlavacek.
3 reviews
November 10, 2020
I read this book to boost my serotonin levels. It was a masterpiece back when I was a child and it's still a masterpiece today.
Profile Image for Megan (ReadingRover).
2,018 reviews47 followers
May 3, 2024
This is a great book! It’s filled with dog puns and food sculpted into dogs. It’s cute and funny. What more could you want? 5 stars
Profile Image for Jonna.
126 reviews3 followers
March 26, 2009
Built on puns and plays on words, the pictures are great, but the kids don't get it. There are double meanings to everything and they have no idea.
Profile Image for Luann.
1,306 reviews124 followers
March 3, 2010
Besides the fun of seeing food turned into very cute dogs, this could also be used in a lesson on idioms or puns.
Profile Image for Maria Rowe.
1,065 reviews15 followers
February 24, 2018
This looked better from far away. Most of the food is browning and the red pepper especially bothered me because it was wrinkly - was it that hard to go to the store and find a fresh red pepper for this book? It’s a fun concept, but the art just doesn’t work. The words are ok but so simple, and the typography is a mess. The words are too small and the typeface looks like something downloaded from the internet.
Profile Image for Red.
522 reviews26 followers
October 18, 2018
Dog food? Food dogs? Food for dogs -minus onions, grapes, and the like- shaped like dogs? What can you say about this book besides it's an inspiration to try making your own little fun edible dogs. My biggest complaint is no hot dog dogs or meat dogs. There was a lot of potential, perhaps sequels are needed.

This book is a surefire way to get your kids playing with their food without glaring at their plates.
Profile Image for Natalie.
1,723 reviews
August 14, 2024
This is such a fun book! DOG FOOD is literally a book of dogs made out of food. Each page has some sort of idiom or word play involving "dog" and the accompanying picture is of a dog (made out of food) acting out the words in a literal sense. So fun and so creative! Who knew you could carve such art out of fruits and veggies! This is a vegan friendly book as there are no, ironically, meat products in it at all. Ha!
Profile Image for Jenny.
154 reviews9 followers
September 8, 2017
I found the featured fruits' faces fabulous fun! While perhaps not quite as expressive as the critters contained in Freymann and Elfers' master work, How Are You Peeling: Foods with Moods, these canine creations are compelling and charismatic characters. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.
Profile Image for Elaina.
350 reviews222 followers
October 28, 2022
This might be the most interesting picture book I've read in my children's library at work xD Very few words throughout it, but the pictures speak louder lol Might be a nice book to have on your shelf for laughs :p
Profile Image for Kim.
840 reviews9 followers
February 15, 2023
The modern art approach was not appreciated or even noticed by 4yo.
Profile Image for Charity.
383 reviews12 followers
July 3, 2023
Such a cute book! I can’t wait to share it with my students!
1,140 reviews
June 29, 2012
Dog Food by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers features familiar dog phrases and food creations portraying them.

Prepare to be (bow) wowed by the varied canine creations in Dog Food. There are also pup puns and word plays a-plenty here.

The variety and creativity of the dog sculptures is impressive and fun. Each page has a few sculptures and a couple words or a brief phrase. I especially like the two page spread: Good dog! Other favorite images are top dog, dog bowl, dog show, pup tent, dog tired and the final image.

This is not a story, but a dog-gone funny book of dog related food sculptures, word play and puns to enjoy.

For ages 3 and up, dogs, food, photographs, fruit, vegetables, puns, plays on words, and fans of Saxton Freymann and Joost Eiffers.

Profile Image for Ina.
1,273 reviews15 followers
July 31, 2012
I am always amazed at the amazing art Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers can create with food. This book is no exception. The text consists of all sorts of dog phrases with a corresponding bright and humorous food illustration. Hot dog, chilly dog, dog paddle, dog tag - they are all here. My young story time audience especially loved dog show (three food dogs watching a mushroom tv set), dog eat dog (one radish dog biting the tail of a larger, pepper dog) and puppy love. While this is not my favorite book by these two, it is still wonderfully creative, entertaining and made me glad that these two DO play with their food.
21 reviews1 follower
June 12, 2011
This book is just amazing with the photos being dogs made from fruits and vegetables. They are absolutely amazing and creative. The author illustrates dog cliches with these cool food-art pieces. Too fun! It doesn't hold Vi's attention at this point but she will grow into appreciating the cleverness that fills this chilldrens' story.
Profile Image for Matthew.
2,890 reviews52 followers
October 3, 2011
While this book is sparse on text, it's illustrations are really interesting in a head-scratchingly odd sort of way. They were all constructed from food,and while that would seem like a novelty act, the expression that the illustrators generated is truly a sight to behold, if for no other reason than to understand how something so strange can turn out so well.
Profile Image for Kelsey.
207 reviews2 followers
September 6, 2016
Dog Food illustrates a variety of dog-related idioms with dogs made out of a variety of fruits and vegetables. The illustrations are very fun and unique. The prose is simple. It would be appropriate for helping children to understand the concept of idioms. It would also be appropriate for encouraging print motivation.
Profile Image for Jacqueline.
197 reviews5 followers
July 15, 2015
Completely adorable pictures of dogs created out of fruits and vegetables. These dogs have very convincing expressions, especially the "sad dog", which is kind of amazing when you remember they're carved out of things like bananas.
Profile Image for Eric.
245 reviews
August 28, 2013
Totally hilarious how the author makes dogs out of all kinds of fruits and veggies. Mot sure if Ella get's the "dog" references, but we have fun guessing what the dogs are made of. Extremely clever.
306 reviews1 follower
January 20, 2017
Almost used it in my food-themed storytime, but my crowd tends to skew downward in age (2yrs and younger, mostly, though up to age 5 are welcome), and I didn't think they would get it. Not really a story but the pictures are amusing and I can see this being a great conversation starter with kids!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews

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