Harry the Dirty Dog - Gene Zion

Advantages: Children love it!
Disadvantages: None

...the children in pushchairs. Harry plays on the street with the men digging up the roads and got dirty, then played on the railway and got even dirtier. When he played with the other dogs he got even dirtier and when he slid down the coal chute, he got dirtiest of all (look at the comparatives). Harry changed from "a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots". At this stage, Harry wonders, and the wonder he wonders is whether his ...
...loved him! So, I believe Harry has a conscience but then we learn that he is hungry and tired, and therein lies the real reason for his musings. He runs back home and it's a very different Harry we see now. Instead of bouncing along the pavement, "smiling" at people, this time, he slinks along, looking longingly at the people eating in the restaurant. Imagine his distress when he gets home, only to hear one of his people comment that there is a ... Read review

Advantages: Bright illustration, super character.
Disadvantages: Sixer got wet. (There aren't any others, honest).

...to fetch Harry. Harry is a lovely little white dog with black spots, but Harry is also a Dirty Dog. He likes most things but he doesn't like the bath any more than Sixer does. So, when he hears the taps running, he steals the scrubbing brush, buries it in the back garden in his special hiding place, and, just to make absolutely, very, most certainly sure he's avoided all ablutions, runs away from home. Harry has great fun while he's running away ...
...to be home. After dinner, Harry fell asleep in his favourite place, happily dreaming of how much fun it had been getting dirty. He slept so soundly, he didn't even feel the scrubbing brush he'd hidden under his pillow." Written by Gene Zion and illustrated by Margery Bloy Graham, Harry looks perky and mischievous; his whole head is tilted upwards, drawing your eye to that little, black, inquisitive nose of his which is always in search of something ... Read review