Monday, May 7, 2012

101 Dalmations

Author:  Dodie Smith
Lexile measure: 830
Language:  Acceptable, no swear words, no potty language.
Violence: Cruella wants to make the puppies into a fur coat.  She has the puppies kidnapped.   One dog bites a human (a bad guy).  The dogs destroy the de Vil's collection of furs.  There is no actual gore except for the dog bite.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Cruella is devilish and creepy/scary.  There is a lot of talk of revenge.  Also, the dogs question the humanity of evil humans.  The two female dogs nurse the puppies.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.  Some are mildly creepy.
Plot:  moderately complex.

I didn't like this book.  Its definitely a book just for kids.  I found that the characters in general were oversimplified and just not that interesting.  DeVil?  Come on.   A small child wouldn't notice, but a sensitive adult might possibly choke.  Then again, I'm not sure this is small child material because of the part about making dogs into fur coats.  I got this out for our 100th day of school, but I don't think I'll be using it this year.

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