Tiny Treasury

In the interest of fair disclosure, I expected to like this book. For the last thirteen years, I have made my home in the great city of Philadelphia. And for a number of those years, I followed a columnist in the Philadelphia Inquirer - that columnist, John Grogan, went on to write a book called Marley and Me, which my husband read and loved. So, when I found out that John Grogan had written a kids’ version of his book about his dog, Marley, I figured that it had to be good. I was right.

The story of Bad Dog, Marley! is simple: family gets dog, dog drives family crazy, family decides to part with dog, family decides that dog is really part of the family. In fact, it’s pretty much a universal story, isn’t it? Not only is Clifford the Big Red Dog playing in the background as I write this (”Clifford always makes a mess”), but my own goofy black labrador was just chased out of the family room after knocking down a Legos statue that had taken quite a bit of time to put together…

You see, dogs, especially big family dogs are absolutely trouble. They will, like Marley, make messes and bark too loudly and chew on things. But, like Marley, my dog is inextricably a part of the family. And while I yell at him from time to time for tromping through my flower beds and drinking out of the toilet, at the end of the day, he is like one of my children. He would do anything for the children.

And so, as I read Bad Dog, Marley! to my children, they pointed at the illustrations (beautifully drawn by Richard Cowdrey). Charlie giggled and Amy solemnly explained what Marley was doing wrong (a lot!). But Amy also found a connection between Marley and Lyle (our dog) which was fun to talk about. She knows that Lyle, not unlike a certain little girl, gets into a lot of trouble even when he doesn’t mean to, but we love him anyway.

Mr. Grogan successfully transitioned an adult book (Marley and Me) into a children’s book (Bad Dog, Marley!) that’s bound to be a classic. The book reminds all of us that nobody is perfect (!) and that love is universal - even for our four-legged family members. I highly recommend picking up a copy for your family today.

John Grogan, Marley and Me, Bad Dog Marley, Richard Cowdry, dogs, children