1 out of 4 stars
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The Story of a Dog Named Horse is a children’s book by P.A. Johnson. It tells the story of a little boy named Zero and how he came to own a talking, chess-playing dog. The dog, Horse, then talks about some of the adventures he and Zero have had together. It’s a short, illustrated tale that is probably best suited for kids aged 6 to 9.
This story is hard to review because, to be perfectly honest, it’s really not a story at all. It begins with Zero’s Aunt Autumn coming to visit and meeting Horse. Horse tells the story of how he and Zero met and talks about some of the vacations they’ve taken together… and that’s it. There’s really no plot to be found in these few pages. There’s no conflict and certainly no character development. The ending is abrupt and doesn’t offer any sort of closure, even though there’s not much to close.
There’s also no setting. The entire story is a stream of dialogue with only a few narrative sentences in the very beginning. Nothing is described, and we have no idea where the characters are. I assume that the story takes place in the future because of references to space travel and robot cars, but those are the only clues.
The story is completely told through dialogue, and unfortunately it’s not even very good dialogue. Characters repeat themselves and each other, and in general don’t sound like people (or talking dogs, as the case may be). For instance, take this extract:
I hoped that the illustrations would carry the plotless story, but those were lacking as well. They’re scanned pencil drawings that look as though they were done by a child. The author’s note at the end says that one of Johnson’s children helped with the book, so I assume that this is indeed the case. Naturally, I wouldn’t expect them to be professional masterpieces, but they can retain a childlike charm while still being cleaned up a little – upping the contrast, removing half-erased lines, and so on.“…how did you come to Zero and how did Zero teach you to talk?” asked Autumn.
“Well, Zero’s aunt, Zero told me that he saw a billboard ad and took a picture with his mom’s old phone,” said Horse.
“Okay, Horse, so how did you come to Zero?”
All in all, I’m very confused. The caliber of the writing and the overall storyline (or lack thereof) point to this book being the work of a kid – maybe a collaboration between parent and child. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! In fact, I think it’s an incredibly sweet project and bonding experience for any family. However, the book is not marketed as though that is the case. The synopsis gives no clues that this is anything but a picture book for children written by an adult.
Considering this fact, and the fact that the author is asking for serious, professional reviews – the reason I read the book in the first place – I’m forced to take it at face value. I’m reviewing this book not as a cute parent-child project, but as a picture book intended for publication and sale. With that metric in mind, I can’t in good faith recommend this book to anyone. There’s no plot, no setting, and no conflict, and the illustrations are too scribbly and low-quality to compensate. I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars, and I’m still scratching my head over its purpose.
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The story of a dog named horse
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