by Moe Zilla

Created on: July 23, 2010

Emma the dog insists that her owner can be unreasonable…

And before I go any further, I should note that Emma is a real-life dog belonging to children's book author Eileen Christelow. She created the popular "Five Little Monkeys" series, and has written about Emma in the past. In "Not Until Christmas, Walter," the dog can't understand why that biscuit under the tree has been covered with wrapping paper. "Letters from a Desperate Dog" was inspired by "the sometimes fractious relationship between her husband, Ahren, and her dog," according to a funny note on the book's jacket.

But it also seems like the book was inspired by Ann Landers, since the dog eventually contacts a newspaper advice columnist. (He'd spotted the column in a free newspaper while eating cinnamon buns at a sidewalk cafe downtown.) The dog leads a very sophisticated life, and it even sends an e-mail to the columnist using a computer at the library downtown - to the amusement of the library's other patrons. "My human, George, barks way too much," the dog complains in the e-mail. "It's 'Bad! Bad! Bad!' all day long… He's really getting on my nerves….

The advice columnist asks whether the dog's human is "a high-strung breed," and suggests "Keep that tail wagging and I'm sure everything will work out." Her specific advice? "Show him you care." And the excited dog decides to give it a try…

It starts well, until the dog knocks over a bucket of paint. (George is a painter who lives with his cat, and the dog ends up splattering one of George's paintings.) The book is written in the form of a comic book, so there's several panels building up to the spectacular crash. Christelow writes lots of funny dialogue for each panel, while the dog's e-mails appear in neatly-typed letters in a white rectangle that overlaps the illustrations. "I tried to make George feel better, but your advice didn't work at all…"

This means there's more words than usual for a children's picture book - but it's also a very intriguing format. What would a dog say if it e-mailed an advice columnist? It's fun to watch Christelow supplying the answers, and the story leads to a happy ending. The dog gets a part in a traveling theatrical troupe - performing in a play called "On The Couch." But when he returns home, he discovers George has postered the neighborhood with fliers about his missing dog.

And when he returns home, George explains that even the cat was lonely…

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