Mush, A Dog From Space

by Daniel Pinkwater, Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

LASSIE, GO HOME -- MUSH IS HERE!
Now that Kelly Mangiaro's family has moved out of their apartment into a house, she figures her parents will finally let her get a dog. Instead, her mother gets a job, and Kelly gets a baby-sitter.
Then Kelly comes upon Mush, a mushamute -- a breed not recognized by the Westminster Kennel Club, or by anyone else for that matter, possibly because mushamutes come from the planet Growf-Woof-Woof, in the solar system of Arfturus. Mushamutes can talk, tell time, cook up a storm, and even clean up the kitchen afterwards. Who needs a baby-sitter when there's a mushamute around? Now if only Kelly can persuade her parents to let her keep Mush....

Genres: Childrens, Space

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Daniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also illustrated many of his books in the past, although for more recent works that task has passed to his wife Jill Pinkwater.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully quirky story from Pinkwater.

We learn of Mush (a dog from another planet) and how he meets Kelly Mangiaro whose family has recently moved into Suburbia which requires both parents to work to afford everything they need to keeps up with the Jones. This leaves much time for Kelly to explore the woods where she meets Mush who just so happens to be able to speak and cook a full three course duck dinner with all the trimmings.

Fanastic!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, clever, and not much longer than a picture-book. Kids who wish they could have a dog will love it.

[Hollowspine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mush, a Dog from Space is a early chapter book about a girl, Kelly, who wants a dog, but whose parents are very reluctant about the idea. They've just moved into a new house, so all their furniture is pristine and they're afraid of doggy fur and doggy smells and doggy marks. When Kelly's mom decides to return to work so they can buy even newer new furniture, since it's summer vacation Kelly would be left home alone. They hire a nice woman to stick chicken dinners in the microwave at 11:55 for lunch, but she's not much company for Kelly.

One afternoon Kelly meets a large and very smart dog in the woods. Mush soon makes herself and Kelly very comfortable in their new home by teaching Kelly's folks a few new tricks!

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that this one was a nice little story but despite being classified as a humourous story, it wasn't exactly funny. It had some funny bits, like that dog teaching the girl how to make duck with all the trimmings and the ending is a a good little one-liner, but felt more like a normal story with funny sprinkles. The illustrations were rather good themselves, showing the babysitter with blue (representing grey) hair and adding little jokes to the storyline. Certainly far from a bad book, but Mush isn't much to rave over either. It's probably actually pretty good as a super early chapter book and would also be good as a read-aloud.

[Debrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly fun.

[Ed Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun to read with my 6 year old. However, I must say that now that I have stumbled upon Pamela F. Service and her "Stinker from Space" I can't help but scratch my head at the similarities.