Miss Moon, Wise Words from a Dog Governess by J. Hill

Hill, Janet. Miss Moon, Wise Words from a Dog Governess. Illus. Janet Hill. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2016. Print.This book is disappointing because it lacks the wise (or whimsical) words that it promises and offers only well-worn clichés, like “practice makes perfect” and “remember your manners.” These trite teachings are not offered as part of a story, but simply as a series of lessons. We are told in the introduction that Miss Wilhelmina Moon learned these lessons when she worked for a time as the “governess to sixty-seven dogs on an island off the coast of France,” but we never learn what led her to these insights. The introduction teases us by suggesting that we are about to read about the adventures of a dog governess with an absurdly large number of charges. Unfortunately, there is no story here so the introduction’s implausible premise just seems odd and the text is nothing more than a list of hackneyed expressions. At the back of the book is a “class photo” of the sixty-seven dogs which is confusing because it seems to suggest that Miss Moon is not a governess in a private household, but a teacher at a school for dogs.Since no story grows out of the clever and original idea of an overburdened dog governess, we are left to focus on the illustrations. Dogs are cute. Children are cute. Illustrations of dogs in various guises—wearing glasses, hats, scarves, capes, or bow ties–and involved in various children’s activities—riding a bicycle, listening to a bedtime story, practicing archery, or taking a bath—can hardly fail to be appealing. Janet Hill’s sometimes adorable illustrations manage to capture something of the character of a range of dog breeds and they are sometimes very cleverly conceived, but they vary significantly in quality and sometimes seem unfocused or unfinished. Even so, the only reason to reach for this book is for the charming illustrations.Recommended with reservations: two stars out of fourReviewer: Linda QuirkLinda taught courses in Multicultural Canadian Literature, Women's Writing, and Children's Literature at Queen's University (Kingston) and at Seneca College (Toronto) before moving to Edmonton to become a librarian at Bruce Peel Special Collections & Archives at the University of Alberta. Her favourite children's book to teach is Hana's Suitcase, not only because Hana's story is so compelling, but because the format of this non-fiction book teaches students of all ages about historical investigation and reveals that it is possible to recover the stories of those who have long been forgotten by history.

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