Author: Nancy Krulik
Illustrator: Sebastien Braun
© Date: 2013
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Pages: 119
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, most page layouts have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 6-8 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No, but does give information on famous sites in Rome
Summary from Book: Give this dog a bone-a magic bone-and see where in the world it takes him!
Mamma mia! Sparky is off to Rome, where there’s lots of spaghetti and sausage and meatballs. It’s the coolest city he’s seen yet, until he realizes…it’s full of cats! And one of them has his bone! Sparky must splash across Trevi Fountain, race through the Colosseum, and dodge crazy Roman traffic to win back his bone and make it home again.
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: I was so excited to find this one because we loved Nancy Krulik’s “Princess Pulverizer” so much. However, after I started reading, I was reminded of just okay “Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo.” This book had an interesting concept of a dog that travels around the world when he chews on his bone, but it felt like the story needed some refining. Sparky’s dog terms for things, like calling humans two-legs, never really did much for me. The narrative in the story was not always clear about what was going on with the real sites around Rome, so a reader might miss that references to a real place are being made. I did appreciate that Sparky found a way to help his new friend and the dogs of Rome, but I won’t be seeking out more of these books.
Family Unit: Sparky lives with his human, Josh
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Sparky needs his magic bone to get back home, but cats took it.
- Cats have taken over Rome. They are not friendly and get all of the tasty handouts from humans.
Positive Items:
- Sparky and Bernardo help each other when they can.
- Sparky learns to appreciate what he has (kibble), not dream of what he doesn’t have (fancy human food).
Items of Interest:
- Sparky was lamenting that his kibble was boring, and Josh got more exciting food. After his adventure in Rome, he came back home happily eating kibble.
- Sparky’s bone transports him to the middle of a street in Rome. A dog that lives in the streets of Rome, Bernardo, helps Sparky come to his senses and get out of the street.
- Sparky learns that cats rule Rome, and dogs like Bernardo are left without all of the tasty handouts that cats get.
- Humans always assume dogs are up to no good and shoo them away, even if cats are up to mischief at the same time.
- Dogs and cats do not speak the same language.
- Bernardo helps Sparky navigate the streets of Rome and chase after the cats that have his bone.
- All of the cats that the dogs encounter are not friendly.
- Sparky comes up with a plan that makes a butcher notice cats eating a meaty bone. The humans are then supposed to learn that cats are stealing food, not just dogs.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Magic Bone: Be Careful What You Sniff For
- Magic Bone: Catch that Dog Wave
- And several others… There appears to be around 12 books total in this series.