Hey, Boy

by Benjamin Strouse, Jennifer Phelan (Illustrations)

In the classic style of The Giving Tree comes a touching debut picture book about the unfaltering love between a boy and his pet.

One day a boy finds a dog. He takes him home, already dreaming of the adventures they will have and the games they will play.

But when the boy gets hurt, he and his new best friend are separated. Will the boy be able to grow up quickly enough to get his furry companion back, or will life keep getting in the way?

With dreamily spare text and sweeping yet simple illustrations, Hey, Boy is a reminder that true friends always find their way home to each other.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Animals, Fiction, Friendship

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminded me very much of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

[Megan]

A sad story about a young boy who finds a stray dog, then has to give him up for a while. Aging and responsibility are themes. Sure to make a pet lover a little teary eyed. Maybe more for grownups than kids.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oof, wow. There is really nothing quite as moving as a bond between a person and their pet. I'm so glad this concluded on a happy, high note. I was getting a little choked up toward the end because I was super worried it was gonna end sadly, but it didn't; thank God.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy finds a dog and takes him home. The two of them love playing together, but then the boy gets hurt. The dog is taken to an animal shelter and someone else adopts him. The boy is told that he simply isn’t old enough yet to care for a dog. Happily, the boy still gets to visit the dog and tries to grow up fast enough to take him back. As time passes, the boy grows up and the dog ages. When the dog is finally too much for his adoptive family, the boy is given the chance to take him. This book is an allegory for the love of pets and the unbreakable bonds they forge.

Strouse writes in prose that is simple and straight forward. Yet the story is much more of a fable, one that doesn’t follow logic but emotion instead. The story is about the bond between human and animal, one that defies time and distance to keep connections fresh and strong. Strouse embraces this even as he tells it in his simple prose, hinting at the true depths of emotion that lie beneath.

Phelan’s illustrations make this book sing. From the dogs in the shelter that are striped with bars to the way the black dog is such a strong graphic on the page, her images are iconic and beautiful. They match the simple prose with their own profound simplicity, allowing the white space on the page to speak too.

Strong illustrations make this allegory all the better to share with children and adults who love their pets. Appropriate for ages 4-7.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dog does *not* die at the end, though it is heavily implied the end is near. Whew, saved you some tense reading there.

Sweet story about a boy who loves a dog, but is too young to take care of it. It's adopted by a couple who let him visit the dog, while the boy works hard to "grow up" enough to take care of the dog. When the couple are too old to take care of the dog, the boy (now a man) adopts the elderly dog even though it's no longer so spirited.

Hopefully this encourages kids to adopt older animals - they need love too!!

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, dang, I didn't expect to be crying at the library customer service desk today! Beautiful book, but not really for all children or for a typical reading session. This book is pretty specific (dog adoption, passage of life and aging including implied impending death) and also pretty mature, though the author handles all topics with grace and gentle honesty. It's just a lovely, moving book!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh....em...geeee....I DARE you to try to read this without feeling like you got punched in the cry-socket. The librarian who chooses to read this in storytime would be a complete masochist. So beautiful, so tender, and so, so sweet. Excuse me, I'm gonna go have a good cry now...

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that almost made me cry. Handles tough subjects honestly. Good for reading to your own child or one you're close to. Storytime only if you want to delve into tough & touchy topics. (Animal shelters, aging, death.) Simple, nice illustrations.

I did get confused on the first two lines.

"One morning, a boy met a dog."

"Hey, Boy. Do you want to see my house?"

I thought the dog was talking to the boy. :-D

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy finds a stray dog, but he's too young for a dog and a couple adopts the dog.
Luckily the boy can visit.
The boy vows to grow up as quickly as he can so that he can take care of the dog.
The dog ages and the visits change.
The couple with the dog gets too old to take care of him. The boy-now-man gets the dog at last. They can't really play anymore, but they talk of adventures together.

[Trey Burley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Improbable.
All but impossible.
Time line for the events in the book don't make sense.
The events in the book could never, ever occur in the real world.

See: it's a children's book and it's great.

This is optimism and hope for second graders and younger. If you have an animal kid in that age range they'll get this book and want to help every 'boy' out there. The classic art with a minimalist approach works very well with the restrained story.

Children's books shouldn't make you cry-and this one didn't for us, but it came close.

Children will lose themselves in this book, imagine possibilities, ask questions and be hopeful.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone that hast loved a dog for its entire life should definitely red this endearing picture book. Simple illustrations that remind me of late 70's picture book styles. Beautiful and heart wrenching.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, I think get the intention...but the book makes no actual sense and it's very depressing.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one was very close to making it on my "made me cry" shelf.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

crying

[Faith Tydings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet, heart warming story.
Beautiful!

[Alida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey, who started cutting onions in here? Loved, loved, loved it. The story and the illustrations compliment each other brilliantly. This one is for my personal collection.

[Anie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, this one made me cry. I can't fathom giving away a pet. This boy pining for his dog his whole life broke my heart.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sad, yet ultimately hopeful book. You will have a good cry and contemplate life and the passing of time. This book will resonate with adult readers but may confound children.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the vein of The Giving Tree, but this beautiful tale shows the love and commitment on both sides!

[Linda]

Boy meets dog. Boy and dog are separated and forced to grow up apart from one another, aside from the occasional visit, with the boy vowing to return and pledging his undying love at the end of every visit. Eventually, the boy grows up to become a man, but he's so busy that he visits even less.

OK, I got a little panicked towards the end when I thought this was going to be a Giving Tree situation. But it's more like a Cats in the Cradle, with a happy ending.


Description: "A little boy must give up his new dog after he gets hurt caring for him, but never gives up on dreams of them being together"

Genre:
Picture books for children

Tone:
Moving

Subject headings:
Boys and dogs
Human-animal relationships
Growing up
Dogs

Other Contributors:
Phelan, Jennifer, illustrator

Author Characteristics:
Male
United States
American

Booklist:
Preschool-Grade 2 The usual boy-and-dog story takes a twist and a turn when the boy finds a stray but it is adopted by another family. The boy had dreamed of all the adventures they would have, so it’s a devastating blow. Happily, the new owners offer him a chance to come and visit often. The boy grows, graduates, travels, and gets a job, but he never stops missing his aging friend. Then the owners become too old to care for the dog: “Ready or not, he was going to bring the dog home.” The retro artwork, done in pen and ink and colored digitally, is presented on spare pages against a stark white background. A red-orange ball, repeated endlessly in massed clusters on the endpapers, appears on almost every page, echoed in the boy’s red shirt, the sheep’s fleecy coats, a hot-air balloon, and a backpack—just spots of color against grays and blacks. A bittersweet story of love and loss, reconciliation and aging. -- Gepson, Lolly (Reviewed 4/1/2017) (Booklist, vol 113, number 15, p79)

Kirkus:
/* Starred Review */ A boy meets a dog, and together they embark on a friendship that endures separation, age, and reunion. Once there was a boy who loved a dog. Under star-filled skies he would tell the dog of "the adventures they would have and the games they would play." When his mother proclaims he's not old enough to care for the animal, the heartbroken, white child determinedly tries to grow up, but he's not fast enough. His dog is adopted, and while kind new owners allow him to visit, he never stops dreaming of a future with his pal. As time passes, his visits become less frequent and life more complex, until one day he's grown. When the owners can no longer care for the dog, the boy (now an adult) finally brings the black dog home. Strouse and Phelan perfectly complement each other in this meditation on the passage of time. Deceivingly simple text and illustrations belie the complex themes and artistic skill of its creators. In pacing and use of negative white space, the two channel Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. However, this existential work is more Zen-like. Phelan's smartly designed spreads take readers on a visual journey from cover to end pages, and as the adult boy tells his old friend once more about the adventures they will have, his dreams unfold like the wind. Luminous. (Picture book . 4-8)(Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2017)

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[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

PreS - Gr 1- A true bond will last even when separated for great periods of time. Such is the case with the unnamed boy and dog in this touching picture book. When the boy adopts the dog, they dream of all the adventures they will have together. Sadly, an accident prevents this, and the boy has to give up the dog until he has "grown up". Time passes, then more, and just when you think there is no hope, their dreams come true. Strouse's plainspoken narrative chokes you up a bit as the boy grows up, and the dog grows older. Any reader who has had a pet will reflect on the time that they have lost. That being said, neither character dwells on what could have been, so the ending has an air of contentment. In conjunction with the text, Hey, Boy's infographic-like designs are quite poignant; it nearly breaks your heart to see the little black puppy staring forlornly from behind bars. Most pages feature little other than the characters and a few objects on a white background. However, for emotional beats, colour and background expand to fill the page in order to better influence the tone. VERDICT Readers will find a fair amount of emotional depth in this story about the bond between man and dog.

*reviewed for School Library Journal

[Cecilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is heavily implied the dog dies in the end, just to forewarn you.

On the surface it's sweet. You delve even a little into analyzing it, and its enraging.

That dog wasn't his. It was in the beginning. But once he took that dog to a shelter up until the other family had to give the dog up after the boy had become a grown-ass adult, that boy was simply a friend of the dog. You don't get to call an animal "yours" when you took it to a shelter, it literally lived with another family for the majority of its life, and you barely visited. It's a big pet peeve of mine. :|

I really liked the illustrations though.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy loves his dog very much. But when he breaks his arm playing with the dog his mother says the dog must go until the boy is old enough to fully take care of the dog. The boy is heartbroken. He dreams of growing up as fast as he can.

The dog-adopting family lets the boy visit the dog. The boy grew up, traveled, created a life for himself. One day he learned that the dog-adopting family were no longer able to care for the aging pooch. The boy was able to bring him home.

An amazing story, also beautifully illustrated. I do not like the message that families get rid of pets b/c a child has an accident. How about teaching your child to be more careful?

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was featured in a display and I grabbed it b/c I'm a sucker for dog books. I thought I would love it when I first skimmed it. But when I sat down to read it… First off, the time-line. I don't know of many dogs that would live as long as the book seems to imply. Secondly, visiting a dog you've turned in? Is that even allowed? Seems like cruel and unusual punishment for both animal and boy to me. Thirdly, visiting the dog at the new owners? See previous sentence. While I love the sentiment, this one just didn't work for me.

[Libby Forgues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrator: Jennifer Phelan
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Margaret K. McElderry Books (May 2, 2017)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1481471015

This story I about a boy and his dog. The dog originally gets taken away from the boy because he is not fit to take care of a dog. As time passes, the boy grows up, and the dog ages with a different owner. When the dog is finally too much for his adoptive family, the boy is given the chance to take him. This book is an allegory for the love of pets and the unbreakable bonds they forge. This would be perfect to integrate into the classroom for a lesson about responsibilities.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The simple outside cover looks like a book published years ago before the fancy artistic styles we have today, but dog lovers will not need fancy illustrations to attract them once they start reading.
We know immediately from the verso page, title page, and first page that the boy wants this dog! If you are trying to interest a youngster in this book, show them these pages right away!
I wonder who the intended audience is for this story?

[cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the most depressing picture book I have ever read. Don't let that cute artwork and bright yellow cover tell you otherwise!

Also, what kind of parent sends a dog to the shelter because their child gets a broken bone from playing?? It wasn't the dogs fault!

And I can only take the scene at the end which was colored in pale blue and grays to only mean that the dog died shortly after being reunited- which sadly is probably near impossible to happen in real life.

So. Sad.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

With simple, yet gripping illustrations, a young boy finds and loves a dog. At one point he has to rehome the dog, but the ending reunites them in a beautiful way.

I am a dog rescuer and have serious emotions about the number of dogs that lose their homes, sometimes repeatedly. I was not sure how I would feel about this one when that does happen, but it ends in a beautiful and pleasing way. Watch for emotions from readers and listeners with this book.

[Nat Whitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely printed illustrations decorate this delightful, and poignant pet book. Exploring separations, friendship, individuality and reunion, this book harnesses children's natural affection and curiosity surrounding "pet" as an idea.. Excellent read aloud to children ages 5-12. Would have been a five star, but, Parents seem to behave a little erratically

[Lexie Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story about friendship and loyalty. As someone who has had a dog my whole life, this story really hit home. It was an easy read and had a lot of great pictures. I really enjoyed this story, but it might be emotional for pet owners who recently lost a dog or have one now. I would definitely recommend this book. It is a heartwarming story.