Dog

Booktalk: (Hypnotist.) Relax. You are getting sleepy. You are getting VERY sleepy. On the count of 3 I will snap my fingers and you will act like a cat! Well, that's the way it was supposed to work when Brian tried to hypnotize his dog into acting like a cat. Trouble was, it was Brian's friend Josh who started acting like a cat. So Dougie hypnotized Josh back into being a boy. But at the same time he hypnotized the dog into talking like a human. It's a scientific miracle! But the boys know that it might mean trouble for the dog if the world found out he could talk. So they decide to use the dog to spy on their classmates. If the dog can spy and find out what Emily Venable and her friends are doing for the school talent contest, the boys can put together and even better act and win the contest. But it's not that easy to get information out of a dog who talks like a human but still acts like a dog.

A good example of fantasy because it depicts an experiment with hypnosis working far beyond its normal bounds. The dog is able to talk, just like a human, about dog things and even tell some jokes. I think it would be a stretch to get a dog to focus on the hypnotizing object for very long, let alone shape his mouth in such a way as to form English words. There are, however, still lessons to be learned about friendships and not losing one's temper. It is, ultimately, a pretty fun book for kids, especially those who love dogs.

Media: ink ( )