![]() According to his dog Murphy, Sid is Supreme Almighty Ruler and King of Absolutely Everything. Sid tries to figure out why dogs are so obedient-especially to such ordinary kids like himself. And many of them are far funnier and more eloquent than Me & Dog.Ī nice addition to pet dog books. I would argue that there are numerous children's books that do, in fact, reflect such a viewpoint, or that can be read as reflecting that view. If the world is beautiful because it is godless, because of the happy accidents that led to life, science, and humanity, then write a book that reflects that. Ideally, I'd also like such books to celebrate their families' views rather than shitting on others'. But I think that children raised in atheist households deserve books that are well-written and well-illustrated, and if they're going to rhyme, the verses should scan. I am all for beautiful, expressive children's books with an atheistic worldview. But that doesn't mean it's a great book.Įta: I read this over a year ago, and the occasional comments I receive on this review have spurred me to write an addendum. Is it better than one of the internet's evangelical atheist neckbeards could do? Yeah, probably. However, I think comparing religious people to puppies desperate to please does a disservice to the hundreds of great thinkers, artists, and authors whose body of work is based in a context that features belief in some kind of god or gods. I want to leave the content of the text alone for the most part as I've already admitted, it's not something I can discuss without bias. The sense I got from the text was definitely "I think I'm slumming here, and I don't know much about the medium I'm using to tell this story." The rhymes are chintzy and occasionally feel forced they read like an out-of-touch grownup's idea of what a children's book is "supposed" to sound like. The illustrations are mediocre at best in a year with some really lovely picture books about dogs ( I'm My Own Dog and Stubby the Dog Soldier: World War I Hero come to mind), Eric Shansby's art falls flat. The reason I wouldn't recommend it, though, is less because I dislike the viewpoint and more because I don't think it's very good. It's not one I'd buy, and it's not one I'd recommend, except in the case of a buyer looking for books with explicitly atheistic worldviews. Look, let's get this out of the way right now: I'm Catholic, so this was never going to be the book for me. They don't give out a Pulitzer for picture-book writing, after all-and more's the pity.) That makes me less confident in your ability to write picture books, not more. (There's also something a little bizarre about advertising your two Pulitzers on the cover of a children's book. I'm sad for him, if that's the case-his Pulitzer-prize-winning work must be horrible if he considers this the best thing he's done. The blurb on this one calls it Weingarten's masterpiece.
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