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Bad Dog, Marley!

1 rating: 5.0

A book by John Grogan

Marley, a rambunctious labrador puppy, causes lots of trouble but then proves in a very dramatic way that he is a valuable member of the household, in this adorable story from the bestselling author of <IT>Marley & Me<RO>. 250,000 first … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Childrens Books, Picture Books, Animal Picture Books, Dog Books

Author: John Grogan

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Publisher: Harpercollins

Date Published: May 01, 2007

1 review about Bad Dog, Marley!

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Good Book, Marley!

Dec 17, 2007

by ssjakira1
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Pros: Crazy dog antics (what else did you expect?)

Cons: None that I can think of

The Bottom Line: You know, if Marley hadn't been such a bad (read "semi-psycho") dog, he never would have been such a good inspiration to his master.

Before I’d ever seen the original Marley & Me book by John Grogan, I was in the kid’s department at the bookstore and found Bad Dog, Marley!. The cover was adorable – a lab puppy was tearing at the cover itself (or so it was drawn). Today I finally got to sneak in some time to read it.

Essentially, the Grogan family wanted a puppy. What they got was Marley. Marley gets into everything and in the end, makes a mess of it all. He eats everything (food or not), and destroys whatever he doesn’t eat. Finally Mommy declares it’s time for Marley to GO. What can Marley do to be a good dog and stay right where he is?

Ignoring the fact that I’ve read the memoir and know the more intimate details of when, where, and how Marley was adopted (though I think seeing Marley’s dad come tearing out of the woods would have made for a hilarious addition; Dad with a look that says “Oh no...”), this was a cute book. The illustrations make Marley look a little scruffier than I thought a lab would look, but overall they were bright, colorful, and with a lot of details. Marley rips up a pillow – feathers everywhere. Marley trashes everything, well there’s everything but the kitchen sink at his feet.

I suspect this is Grogan’s first time writing a children’s book, and he did a pretty good job. For some reason I got this feeling he was either trying too hard or wasn’t quite sure what age range he wanted to go with, but truth is I’m not a writer of children’s books, nor do I have any children of my own, so I can’t really say. Either way, I did giggle at some of the lines in there, like Marley eating Dad’s paycheck (which I also remembered from the book) and I don’t doubt that kids will enjoy this book because let’s face it – Marley is funny, even when he’s bad.

NT

Recommended:
Yes

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