HolidayBookReview

Howling Day Greetings my friends! While humans bustle about with their shopping bags, canines everywhere will soon be celebrating Howling Day on Dec 27. As canine families attempt to remain intact there is a great rush to develop healthy, procanine holiday traditions. It is an exciting time in history to be a dog. Canine parents are becoming more interested in educational toys for their litters. We at CFF don't see canines embracing the shopping frenzy as humans do, but we are happy to begin our first Canine Worthy Book Review!!
It can be difficult to find positive portrayals of canines in the available literature, but Biscuit, a terrier from Kips Bay was happy to find "Pooch on the Loose" by Steven Kroll on the bookshselves at Union Square.
The book focuses on the free adventure of a small dog named Bart, who actually rides the subway on his own! Never during the early days of the movement did we think this would be possible. Now it is actually depicted in a book written by a human!
Bart travels throughout Manhattan by train, finds food and enjoys culture on his own.


The highlight for most dogs will be Bart's trip to the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Bart stands up on his hind legs and imagines himself as the statue, declaring himself "the Dog of Liberty"! Still the story and illustrations acknowledge that there are frustrations with being a small dog on your own.


Certainly the canine families searching over the shelves for appropriate puppy literature may be concerned about a few points in the book. For instance, Bart has to "escape" from his person in order to enjoy his inalienable right to freely explore. Canine activist Polly, a schnauzer applying to Harvard, is writing a proposal to study
the creation of legalized equal human-canine relationships. Rather than being owned Polly believes that canines are ready to enter into cohabitation with humans while still requesting their equal rights and maintaining their freedom without resorting to slipping collars and dashing through open doors. This will require some practice in negotiation.
At one point Bart steals a pretzel from tourists when he becomes hungry. Older dogs remember Maverick doing the same as a protest against the hierarchy, but activists today put forth the expectations that dogs make a living through skill and are beginning to look upon these incidents as less than progressive. Certainly parents should be prepared for an open discussion with their pups.




One thing all our reviewers agreed on was that Bart is a dog who loves freedom and is willing to blaze the trail! When he returns to his home his human is happy to see him and they enjoy a happy holiday together. We would however like to see a nice Howling Day roast cat under that tree!!