I'm pleased to introduce an adorable new series from Chronicle Books called Dog & Hat. Dog and his favorite hat, Hat embark on the adventure of a lifetime when an accident with a bottle of spot remover causes all of the polka dots on Dog's favorite shirt to disappear into the city sewer! Armed with a map, Dog & Hat seek to recover all of the lost dots before they get missing forever. But this unlikely duo had batter watch out. There are alligators in the sewer. Hungry Alligators!
I was totally drawn in by the cover of this book! With its fanciful animals, and wild color palette, book 1 of Dog & Hat's new series reminded me of the Sweet Pickles books from the late 70s and early 80s. Plus, as you can see in the corner of the cover, there's a friendly little ant. He's hiding all throughout the book. That reminded me so much of Richard Scarry's Cars, Trucks and Things That Go! In that amazing book, you were tasked with finding the tiny Goldbug who was hiding in every scene.
This book is recommended for readers in grades 1-3. I think that's a fair recommended age range as there's at least 1 scene involving one of those pesky sewer alligators that might be a tad too intense for younger readers.
There are also a few panels where Dog & Hat are in the sewer without a flashlight. Those scenes have the lettering in dark black letters over navy blue talk bubbles. While I understand that creator Darin Shuler is trying to capture the feeling of one exploring a dark mysterious lair; those panels were kinda hard to read.
Despite my difficulty scanning some of the pages, I love Shuler's approach to have his artwork fill the entire page. I love graphic novels that bleed over instead of using panels like a traditional comic book. This sort of art technique really helps to create an intimate environment. With lots of great Easter eggs and creative paneling methods throughout this book, I felt that Darin Shuler went the George Lucas route and created not just a story but an entire community that I would love to visit again and again.
Dog & Hat and the Lost Polka Dots has got to be one of the most immersive reads I have come across in a very long time. There's so much going on that I feel like young readers will find something new every time they re-read this book. Like Lady Olio's store in which Dog & Hat shop, this book has everything!
Filled with laughs, this is sure to be a series that families will want to return to time and time again!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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