Month: April 2019

Mutts is an institution. It’s how a cat and dog, plus the occasional crab, mussel, dolphin or farm animal see the world. Mooch and Earl, the main guardians of Mutts are eternally optimistic. They do see some things that aren’t all, pardon the pun, puppies and kittens. These are things like the environment or animals that are up for adoption; yet even when our animal friends encounter these things they do it with a sense of optimism and hope, rather than despair or guilt. Mutts is back with a new collection of comic strips, The Mutts Summer Diaries, just in time for road trips, easy summer reading and good books under a shade tree.

The Mutts Summer Diaries is the final season in the ‘diary series’. I guarantee you that if you pick up any of the other three seasons you’ll find them just as entertaining. Personally, I can think of very few jobs that are as challenging as a daily comic strip creator. Create characters that people want to see every day, then have the main medium that it’s delivered in shift to an online presence and continue making a quality product. That is the great thing about having quality comic strips collected in a graphic novel format.

These strips are previously printed online and in newspapers. However, for those that don’t subscribe to a newspaper or have the strips emailed to them this is brand new stuff. It’s also classic comedy that you’ll be reading 20 years from now. As I write this I’m looking over my Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes book from the 70s, 80s and 90s. From time to time I still look at them and laugh. My children also look at them and while they don’t have the same memories of them as me, they laugh. They sneak the books out of my office, read them, laugh and then try to put them back in the book shelf at just the same angle so I won’t be able to tell if they’ve been in here.

The Mutts Summer Diaries is printed on recycled paper, as are all of Patrick McDonnell’s books. Some of the strips make you laugh out loud. Some make you grin because they resemble a person or pet that you once had. Other strips make you think about the animals that you’ve seen for adoption.  Our 9 year-old has finally started to enjoy Mutts. He’s had cats and dogs for most of his life and I hope that he thinks of some of our pets who have crossed the rainbow bridge when he laughs along. Even if he had never had any pets, Mutts is a comic strip that he’d enjoy because of its uncanny ability to make anthropomorphic animals even more animal-or even more human, depending on the strip.

As a reader I’m somewhat wary of books that take place in a stereotypical large, destination type city. The cynical side of me says that they present a slice of life that the majority of people can’t relate to. They won’t have access to the eating choices, places to visit or, for better or worse, the people that they’ll encounter. How can I relate to that?, some might think. You might be thinking that while you look at the cover of Nelly Takes New York, but those thoughts will quickly be mollified. In their place, you’ll have visions of childhood adventures, as well as, a time when imagination and curiosity are your best friend.

The story follows Nelly, a playful 7 year old who lives in the West Village. She’s visiting the bagel truck where she’s greeted by name from Mr. Patel. Nelly tells Mr. Patel that she’s going to visit Union Square today, to which he says in a friendly manner, “the Big Apple is tons of fun”.

She just bought a bagel, yet the bagel salesman just mentioned a Big Apple. This throws young Nelly for a loop so she goes about visiting various New York City attractions asking about ‘the Big Apple’. Of course she visits an apple stand at the farmer’s market, who then says that if she wants to see the Big Apple then she must go to natural history museum.

One thing leads to another and our young heroine is seeing almost every angle of the big city. Her loving dog, Bagel, which leads her to discover even more places until the two meet up again in front of the 9/11 Memorial.

Adults may question how she can traverse huge areas of the city in the blink of an eye, how her dog can continue about the city even though he’s not on a leash, but that’s the cynical side of you. Just pat that side of you on the head, say good boy and remind them to come around when it’s time to pay the cell phone bill.

The art in Nelly Takes New York is one big reason why the book is so charming. The illustrations by Kristi Valiant are realistic, detailed and make you want to visit the Big Apple. The story by Allison Pataki and Marya Myers is great too. It’s approachable for ages 4 and up as they let the illustrations guide them through the urban jungle. There are some sight words for those younger readers. The average 7 year old will probably be able to read it by themselves.

Ultimately, what’s most remarkable about Nelly Takes New York is that it doesn’t make readers jealous that they aren’t there. It’s not a hey-look-as-us we’re better than you book about a certain city. The premise, with the same high quality artwork could easily have taken place in any city, country or locale that kids would be curious about. This book celebrates curiosity and the questions that kids have, while doing so in a large city with a nickname that some younger ones might not understand.