THE VERY VERY VERY LONG DOG

An extremely long “sausage dog” causes problems with his far-distant rear end until his friends provide a creative solution.

The dog, Bartelby, is presumably a wire-haired dachshund, although his ultra-long size puts him in the category of imaginary pets. He lives (seemingly independently) in a well-stocked bookstore, where he enjoys reading his favorite books “whilst eating breakfast” and having visits with three children who are his special friends. One is white with blonde braids, another is white with curly, red hair and glasses, and the third friend has brown skin and straight, dark hair. Bartelby is so long that he doesn’t know what his own rear end is doing when he goes out on walks, causing issues such as tripping people or tracking his back feet through wet cement. His friends read books at the bookstore to discover a way to help him, coming up with a bright yellow sweater for Bartelby’s back end with a light and warning sign. Soft-focus, colored-pencil illustrations have a whimsical appeal, with amusing expressions for Bartelby and a multiethnic cast of characters. The dog’s enormous length makes some of the illustrations hard to understand, and it’s difficult to grasp how Bartelby could walk with his extra-long body, powered only by four tiny feet.

A mildly amusing outing for an odd though engaging canine character.