Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories: A Tribute to the Threadbare Companions of Childhood

by Cheryl Katz, Jeffrey Katz, Hornick (Photographer)

It'¬?s rare to find a child whose very first best friend wasn'¬?t a fuzzy teddy bear or downy blanket. Whether clutched securely in little arms each night or dragged gamely through the playground each day, these fiercely loved companions universally ease the uncertainties and loneliness of childhood. DIRTY WOW WOW AND OTHER LOVE STORIES celebrates the lives of fifty transitional love a sweetly poignant collection of stuffies, blankies, lovies, and dolls who inspired and comforted their owners. Bundles of love and warmth fashioned from fluff and fur, these cherished friends have a lifetime of stories sewn up in their tattered bodies--a trip to Paris smushed in a suitcase, a secret hiding spot behind the family liquor cabinet, an interminable wait in the lost-and-found bin before a joyousreunion at home. With stunning photographs that reveal the personalities within, this thoughtful tribute is at once funny and oddly soothing-like a certain shabby buddy who'¬?s tucked away but never forgotten.

 

Hear the NPR Weekend Edition interview with the authors of Dirty Wow Wow Reviews"This charming book would be a perfect gift for collectors and also an offbeat surprise for new parents."-Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Dirty Wow Wow'¬?s striking photographs and brief narratives stir up vivid memories of . . . long-lost companions."-Southwest Spirit Magazine"This clever work, peppered with sumptuous snapshots of raggedy dolls, pays tribute to the beloved companions of childhood."-Entertainment Weekly'¬?s "Must List"

 View the gallery of entries from the Show Us your Dirty Wow Wow Contest

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Art, Short Stories

112 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have a bunny.

come to my blog!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a curious thing about how children choose "the one." My well-loved childhood companion, Fleagle, still sits beside me on my bedside table. And I love seeing the companionship my boys find in their chosen friends - Baa and Ah-Ah.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mine was a stuffed lamb named Penny. I still have him. When I was little I thought he looked sad because he didn't have a mouth. My mom helped me sew a smile on - a huge red garish smile. Much better.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Xmas '08 gift from the Mom. A bunch of cute little stories about stuffed animals, blankets, and dolls. All of them falling prey to love's entropy. Extra bonus points for featuring Mutt Lee[†] on the cover.



† = Alright, the story for this one identifies it as "Rover" but I had (still have) the exact same "Le Mutt" plush dog. Except mine was called Mutt Lee. (No relation to Duck Fu.)

[Jak Krumholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you can tell Dog has seen some things.
Like having it's head and other appendages reattached multiple times.
Like having a candy lollipop from a mid 80's Disney World road trip attached to it's foot.
Like being used to mop an entire bathroom with toilet water.

Anyone who was/is a child would enjoy this. So much love in these pages. My daughter was watching Mr. Rogers (Pets and Birthdays - 6/3/82) and I was floored when he was holding my beloved childhood plaything. This led to some internet sleuthing on the "Le Mutt" toy and this book with Dog's doppelganger on the cover.

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna lie: bought the book because the stuffed dog on the cover was my favorite toy growing up.

Cute stories of childhood “lovies.” Reads like a coffee table book.

Rating does not include the sentimental value associated with LeMutt. =)

[Yami Nagabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the chapter of Blankie Belmont.

[James Easterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet idea, a familiar guy on the cover. Mr Beasley says hello.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so fun! I think "stuffies" or "lovies" in childhood is almost a universal phenomenon, and the authors do a great job of giving a short background to go with each picture of a "lovie" they feature. Though most of the stuffed animals/toys/blankets are worn beyond belief, it is touching to see the things that helped children through their childhood, something we can all relate to.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest, sweetest, most adorable little book I have ever seen or read! Adorable!

All I could think of was my little sister's Meg's "blankie", which she still has a piece of. It's a corner that I am hoping she will pin to the inside of her wedding dress for something old...and her "Bermuda Bunny" that she won in Bermuda when she was 4 at an Easter egg hunt...and my brother's favorite bear, "Bow-bow", that he named after a little owl in Clash of the Titains...

One of the most tragic events of Meg's young life was when original "Blankie" got mixed in with the hotel laundry on a ski trip in Vermont...he was lost..and never found..we called the hotel but no luck...somehow she adopted one of Doug's baby blankets and grew to love him as much as original "Blankie"....This is a sweet, sweet book.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. Anyone that had a special "lovie" growing up will certainly appreciate this book. Several of the companions in the book have been relegated to a closet or a dresser drawer.. and I just want to take them home myself and take care of them! They were loyal friends for so long, they don't deserve to be stuck in a closet! (I can't really talk though, my teddy bear from childhood is packed away in a shed.. and I will be getting him out as soon as I can!) My extra special lovie, my baby blanket, became just a pile of rags through the years. I used to keep it stashed under my pillow and as I got older, I would just hold it in in my hand as I fell asleep. There is only about a 2-inch piece of this blanket left that I keep in my jewelry box, but just touching that little scrap makes me feel like a kid again. <3

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos alone might have earned this book a five-star rating from me. They are so precious! This is truly visible love, to see how the hugging, handling and wear and tear has affected these childish toys and (what the author calls) "love objects." The stories are sweet too, but the author has written the thumbnail sketches about each photo, and in a way I'd really have preferred to have the original owner of each toy comment in his/her own words about the meaning of the toy in the owner's life. Instead, the writing style was a little too slick, as though it were trying to showcase the snappy writing chops of the author(s) rather than be simple and moving tales about the objects themselves. Very sweet, though. Short and fast to 'read': probably 10-15 minutes.

[Margo Brooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment! This book has been on my to-read shelf for months and when I couldn't get it through my two library systems, I broke down and bought it. I was expecting some wonderful heartwarming essays about childhood toys. Instead I got 2 or at most 3 paragraphs about toys, some of whose owners don't even remember their names. I could (and actually have written) a 4-5 page essay on my bunny Mohammed. The authors should have dug deeper for real stories rather than settling for a photo and bland commentary.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a great idea for a book, but it's a bit short on content, and most of the childhood stuffed animals aren't cute. It's like a mini coffee table book with big pics of each animal and a short blurb on its history from the owner. Maybe more anthropomorphic scruffy and well-loved teddy bears and less bankies that are now tangled dirty ropes. I'm just sayin'...

[Signe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet little photos and stories of people's toys from when they were kids. Some of the stories are snarky, some are touching. The photography really honors the character of the individual dolls (and blankets).

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute pictures and description of childhood toys that were loved into disrepair. I was particularly struck by the handmade feather pillow that smelled funny and weighed a lot. It was called "Leadball." Also the plastic dog creeped me out a bit. Silly fun.

[Rozanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. It is what it is. A picture book of grayish, drooled-upon and shredded plush toys and some captions that try very hard to be clever but that are ultimately not very compelling. The best thing about the book may be its title.

[Firda Beka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! I finished reading it in just one day. It makes me miss my dear Stinky Teddy of my childhood whose funeral is one of my earliest memories (and yes, there was even a burial) and my old Blankie that I wish I'd taken with me when I moved to Canada.

[Wendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare find where the photographs and the writing are equally effective, and affecting. I thoroughly enjoyed how the Katzs gathered the stories about each beloved friend and distilled them down into witty, empathic vignettes that highlight the reasons each one is best loved.

[Amy J]

cuteness

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book... a quick flip through. Some of the stuffed animals are adorable.

[Norabear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable little book about childhood stuffed animals and blankies with pictures of the well-loved.

[Wendolyn Aragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The little things in life shape us more than we will ever know.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a wrenchingly traumatic turn of childhood events I lost my blankie, Mr. B, in a hotel room in Missouri in the mid-1980s. But with this book I felt like a little piece of Mr. B returned to me.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nostalgic tribute to childhood comfort objects, ranging from Blankie to one-eyed & very loved, Bear.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about the lovies and security blankets of our childhood. So happy my two girls have theirs all safe and happy. Love to "Bunny" and "Ginky Emma". Forever
in our hearts.

[Lynnea Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more a coffee table book than something you sit down to read. But it was sentimental and cute.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because that dog on the cover is the exact stuffed dog I had as a baby. Looks the same too, in its current condition, but I have never seen this stuffed animal anywhere!

[Parker J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book...reminds me of my favorite toys and stuffed animals!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable!