Marlo

Marlo the Dog #1

by Christopher Browne

A glorious, mostly wordless picture book about a dog who needs a bath—and finds much more than that—by phenomenal debut author/illustrator Christopher Browne, who was inspired by his own rescue dog. Perfect for fans of Aaron Becker's Caldecott Honor Book Journey and Erin and Philip Stead’s books.

This lush picture book launches readers into a world of imagination: a glorious underwater adventure with seas of brilliantly colored fish, shadowy predators, and two friends who long to be reunited. With a clever seek-and-find element on each spread, there are treasures to be pored over again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Dogs, Animals, Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2017

Reviews

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can you find Marlo, the little yellow duck, and the hermit crab in the illustrations. Fans of Where's Waldo and I Spy books will enjoy this one.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marlo the pit bull enjoys an imaginative underwater adventure while having a bath in this partially wordless picture-book from author/artist Christopher Browne. Together with his faithful companion, a yellow rubber duck, Marlo experiences both the wonder and the terror of the marine world, following a school of fish, visiting a coral reef, fleeing from a shark, and being swallowed by a massive whale. Eventually dog and duck are expelled out of the whale's blowhole, finding themselves back in the bathtub...

While the beginning and ending of Marlo has some text, most of the book is wordless, using artwork to chronicle the eponymous canine's marvelous adventure. Similarly, while the artwork at beginning and end is minimal, with lots of white space on the page, the middle section taking place underwater is vividly colorful, with a deep blue background, and objects and animals of many different hues. These textual and visual distinctions emphasize the differences between the 'real' world of the bathroom, and the imaginative world of make-believe into which Marlo is temporarily escaping. Young readers and listeners will find this dog's adventure entertaining, and will enjoy hunting for the little yellow duck on each two-page spread.

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Marlo goes on a great adventure completely inadvertently trying to get his Duck back. Looking for the duck in each picture added to the fun.

[emyrose8 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, I'm not a huge fan of the illustration style, so in a nearly wordless picture book that brings it down quite a bit for me. The story is all right. I enjoyed looking for the rubber ducky on each page, but that's about it. :/

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looked for the duck, found him in all but one scene.

[Shanice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marlo is about a dog who has to get a bath and the underwater adventure that he has while in the bathtub with his duck. I choose this book because it was a picture book with only a few words and the pictures that didn’t have words were so colorful and had so much going on in them that this would be the perfect story to read with a child and allow them to create their own story of what Marlo did while he was underwater in the bathtub! This is a picture book!

[Abbigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book, but the transition from the bathtub to the ocean at the beginning seemed so abrupt to me; the shock of it is kind of funny too though, I guess. I would have just loved some interesting transition from the beginning and going into the ocean. Only words on the first couple and last couple of pages; the rest is wordless. Good for storytime at home, pointing out pictures and animals.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlo is a true picture book. 20ish pages, only 3 have words. Don't get this book to read aloud, get this book to talk about the story with your child. The pictures are great and it's clear exactly what adventure Marlo is going on. And as a side note, you just may never look at bathtime the same way again.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlo the dog is all muddy. When he gets in the tub, he imagines he's floating in the ocean, then overboard and scubaing through all sorts of sea life. Swallowed by a whale, he's blow out through the spout. Ending, wrapped in a towel with his duckie.
Just a few words only at the beginning and end.
Lots to see.

[Kate Matheis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story begins with a dog who needs to take a bath. It tells us that Marlo doesn't like taking baths. Then there are no more words and the story is just very vivid pictures. Students can create their own narrative. Love it!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

My five year old and I loved this book. Super cute illustrations of marlo! My son loved looking for the duck. I liked how he had to use his imagination to understand what was going on. Very sweet book I am so surprised it isn’t rated higher on goodreads.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, nearly wordless bathtime book starring Marlo, the dog.
Kids will have fun looking at Marlo's imaginative underwater adventures... as he somehow moves from the bathtub into the deep sea, where he encounters lots of fish, including some scary fish! and a blue whale.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlo the dog got so muddy he had to have a bath. Once into the tub he began an amazing underwater adventure. This book has words only at the beginning and end of the story. The middle is wordless with a lot going on for the reader to explore and interpret. Great imaginative illustrations.

[Ana Calabresi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost wordless.

[Debbie Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely picture book (almost wordless) fantasy adventure of a dog sailing the high seas at bath time.

[Deatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son jumped out of his seat after reading this book and declared it a favorite! He loved finding the rubber ducky on each page. Marlo is a must read for any 2nd grader.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

If my baths escalated as quickly as Marlo's I wouldn't want to take a bath either. Geez. What kind of insane bathtub does this guy own and where can I get one?

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

*with 39 words, it's technically not wordless, but very close.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlo has a great imagination. This is a mostly wordless book, stretching the imagination of that silly dog and the reader.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was different. Illustrations are crazy and wild yet interesting.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Mostly) wordless.

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure magic and adventure.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute art

[Jane Karen]

The illustrations and search and find are so original and fun, my kids loved this and asked for it again and again!

[Amanda Flanery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is mostly photos, but it begins the story & ends the story & lets the child interact with their imagination & a seek & find during the picture pages. My daughter loves it.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this few words book Marlo the dog and his rubber ducky head to the bath. Preschool and up.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute concept of a dog needing a bath and imagining a great adventure under the sea, but the delivery was a little bland for my taste.

[Lisa Zinkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a fun adventure!

[Dottie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely obsessed with this one.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute story about a bathtime adventure. It is mostly wordless (just the first and last pages have words).