In this joyfully imagined, Dog Heaven, place,
God is a smiling, white-haired gentleman who watches the goings-on as dogs run and bark, play with kids, eat dog
biscuits in cat shapes, and sleep on fluffy clouds. It's also a place where dogs patiently wait for old friends:
"They will be there at the door. Angel dogs." Rylant's kindergarten concept of the hereafter is cheerful but
not humorous or glib. The bright acrylic paintings are Rylant's debut as a picture-book painter; reminiscent of
the artwork of very young children, they mesh beautifully with the innocence of the text (which is actually less a
story than a series of descriptions), with their vivid rainbow colors turning the sometimes scary mystery of
dying into an adventure spent with happy, welcoming four-footed friends. A book for parent-child sharing and
discussion.
Hardcover, 12 x 8 inches, 32 pages, color illustrations
ISBN 0-59041-701-0; (September 1995)
Limited Quantities
