McDuff's Wild Romp

McDuff

by Rosemary Wells, Susan Jeffers (Illustrator)

In the car, McDuff knew immediately they were not heading for Lake Ocarina, or the Take-Out Steak-Out, or Dog Training School. He knew they were going to Aunt Frieda's house. Aunt Frieda's house means only one thing to McDuff-mean, old Purlina the cat! Purlina shows her claws and clicks her teeth at McDuff. She won't even let him sit on the sofa. When an Organic Turkey Tidbit falls from the dinner table, a mad chase ensues.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Dogs, Fiction, Historical, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Rosemary Wells is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She often uses animal characters to address real human issues. Some of her most well-known characters are Max & Ruby and Timothy from Timothy Goes To School (both were later adapted into Canadian-animated preschool television series, the former’s airing on Nickelodeon (part of the Nick Jr. block) and the latter’s as part of PBS Kids on PBS).

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turkey tidbits!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunday dinner becomes a wild rampage when McDuff and Purlina (the aunt's cat) fight over the baby's dropped turkey tidbit.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

McDuff goes to visit the aunt, and her mean cat won't let him do anything. He steals a piece of turkey the baby drops, and the cat chases after him. They cause a real ruckus, turning furniture over and everything. Then everything calms down and is set right. Then the aunt brings out dessert. Baby likes dessert better than turkey, so she tosses another piece and yells, "Again!" Uh oh...

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

McDuff meets a cat, and they typify the classic cat / dog power struggle. Small note that some of the text that explains the 4-window illustration page is pushed to the accompanying page, which was a bit strange. "But the turkey tidbit was gone forever" makes me laugh.

[Charity Yost Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

These simple storylines of McDuff are easy to follow and have simple 1960s-type illustrations. My kids and I love reading about this adorable little dog.

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanksgiving Story Time. McDuff and Purlina fight over turkey tidbits.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book starts and stops with animosity. With so many other great books to read to children, I think I'd skip this one. Nothing really wrong with it. But I don't feel like it's worth reading.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosemary Wells, McDuff's Wild Romp (Hyperion, 2005)

McDuff's Wild Romp was the first of the McDuff books we read, and for some reason it's the last one I ended up writing a review for. McDuff's family heads to the home of a relative for Sunday dinner, where McDuff meets, and takes an instant dislike to, the family cat; chaos ensues when the mischievous baby tempts the animals with turkey tidbits. There are two ways to write scenes of chaos; one way involves making sure everything is clear to the reader, while still conveying the chaotic feeling with pace, imagery, that sort of thing. It's a bit difficult to do, but rewarding when it works. The other way to do it is to abandon structure and just revel in the chaos. Wells takes that tack here for the big animal battle. I can't say whether the Bean would have found the first way more effective. I would have. Still, it's not the worst of the bunch, and hey, if you like turkey tidbits, you can certainly identify with the main characters. ** ½

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDuff is usually a very calm and wonderful dog. But in this story he has to go to the families aunt's house where he meets up with a very grumpy cat! The cat won't allow him to sit in the warmth, won't allow him to do anything without him hissing at him. The baby drops some turkey from her high chair and both animal sees it! They head under the table and oh no! What happens next both families can't understand... and no one seems to understand what started the fighting of two normally calm family pets... EXCEPT the baby that drops another piece of turkey and says "AGAIN"

[T. Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the McDuff series so far, have a couple more to read. Westitude is in full force in this McDuff book. A cat and a Westie compete for turkey tidbits so you can just imagine! I actually laughed out loud several times as I read this book. I just LOVE the illustrations... The drawings reflect the Westie eyes perfectly. It is not often you get to see the whites of a Westie's eyes. This book is hilarious! I am a grandmother whose babies are all grown. I raised 3 Westies, 2 kids and 2 grandkids. I wish I'd had this book to read to them. Love.

[Friend of Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but not as good as some of the other McDuff books. Does anyone else feel like Jeffers' illustrations have gotten more, I don't know, muddy or less detailed? Or is that just my imagination? Anyway, McDuff and his family go for Sunday dinner at a relative's house, where lives a large, mean cat. When she and McDuff attempt to pounce on the same crumb dropped by the baby, all hell breaks loose as they race through the house upturning tables and knocking down lamps.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, McDuff and his family go to dinner at Aunt Frieda's house. Unfortunately, Aunt Frieda owns a cat. When the baby, drops a piece of a turkey stick, Purlina the cat and McDuff create a mess trying to get the piece. McDuff gets into trouble. After the mess is picked up, the baby say, "Again." It seems she didn't mind the mess. The pictures are nicely done. This is an AR 2.9 level book.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDuff gets McFramed by Purlina. Cute story, but with a glaring plot hole. If a Turkey Tidbit falls under the dinner table? No dog is going to slowly creep under the table throughout the crab cake and salad courses. A cat? Certainly. But the dog's going to go for it. At least the author got him swallowing it whole right.

The baby's role as bored Roman emperor, encouraging a bloodbath for her entertainment is amusing.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Westie and a big orange cat.
It doesn't get any better than that.
I'm a poet,
who knew it!

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mcduff is cute, and sweet, but Purlina the cat is not cute, or sweet.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDuff is a cute dog, but man, he should learn to deal with those darn cats. This story has cute pictures and McDuff is so adorable!!! A pretty good story....except for that one darn cat... =)

[Stacia Leigh]

I like this series. The first one was the best so far, but it's still fun to visit McDuff and his friends in other stories.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love the McDuff books, and this one was particularly fun...once again, the baby is behind some of McDuff's troubles!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice illustration style. I liked how the cat was named Purlina. My favorite line from the book was "She flattened her ears and hissed like a log sizzling in the fire."

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. The facial expressions on the dog and the cat are priceless.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kin this fun book about mischievous animals, a dog and a cat go for a turkey tidbit that has fallen on the ground during dinner. Chaos ensues. A fun, cute book.