Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Talk about a dog marking its territory-by day Arthur Dog is a mild-mannered hound who guards the Dogopolis art museum, but when the moon is full, he becomes Art Dog. Donning beret and mask, he takes paints and brushes and fills the back alleys of the city with his murals. Art Dog remains undiscovered until he's framed for the theft of Leonardo Dog Vinci's Mona Woofa. He's thrown in the clink, but escapes with the help of his superpowered medium (``where there were bars, he painted a window''), nabs the real crooks and gets his own gallery exhibit as a reward. Hurd's (Mama Don't Allow; Mystery on the Docks) straight-from-the-tube palette and blurry brush strokes suggest a painter in speedy action; his art-humor-canine portraits based on canvases by Vermeer, Seurat, Picasso and others line the museum walls-is good-natured. His plot, meanwhile, gleefully invokes comic-book conventions: Art Dog drives a streamlined Brushmobile, stops off at the Wile E. Coyote-esque Acme Paint Co. and battles the baddies in a dynamic spread highly suggestive of TV's goofy Batman (enhanced with cutout shapes a la Matisse). A waggish good time. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)

ALA Booklist (Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 1996)

By day, he's Arthur, a mild-mannered museum guard. But at night, he becomes Art Dog, splashing the city with his own mile-high monsters and shimmering sun-drenched scenes. One night, there is a robbery at the Dogopolis Museum of Art, where Arthur works. The thieves have stolen the Mona Woofa, leaving a painting of a blond in its place. Naturally, Art Dog, who is caught painting a picture on an outside wall, is a suspect. He's thrown in jail, paints his way out, and finds the Mona Woofa because he can smell art a mile away. His bravery rates him a show of his own at the Dogopolis, though Art Dog's identity remains a secret. This is exuberantly drawn by Hurd, who has imbued Art Dog with the flash and dash every artist feels at times; but Hurd also captures the shyness that comes with displaying your art. Kids will respond not just to the pictures but also to a story that does as well with characters as with plot. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1996)

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1996)

A mild-mannered museum guard by day, Arthur Dog leads a secret life once a month as Art Dog, a graffiti artist. While Hurd's style is as appealing as ever, full of dog puns and colorful illustrations rendered quickly and skillfully, the story is uneven. Halfway through the book, the tone changes suddenly and Art Dog's paintings provide him with superheroic powers.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-At the Dogopolis Museum of Art, Arthur Dog guards priceless paintings by such famous artists as Vincent Van Dog, Pablo Poodle, and Henry Muttise. He leads a quiet life except when the moon is full; then he becomes transformed into "Art Dog." Donning beret and mask, and armed with his paint box, he steals into the city's deserted alleys. There, under cover of darkness, he brightens bleak walls with his brilliantly colored paintings of wildlife. When, one night, thieves steal Dog Vinci's "The Mona Woofa" from the museum, the canine uses his art-sensitive nose and sleek brushmobile to find the culprits. In perhaps the brightest double-page scene ever painted-an open pastiche on Matisse-he is shown subduing the crooks with paints and slashing brush. The museum tries to honor Art Dog for his bravery, but this superhero of the dog world prefers to remain anonymous and finish his painting of the city's night sky. Hurd infuses every page of this book with dramatic watercolors. The accompanying story is light and brief, and moves this superdog through his adventures as adroitly as it does readers. Virginia Golodetz, St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT

Kirkus Reviews

The adventures of Arthur Dog—mild-mannered guard at the Dogopolis Museum of Art by day, mural-painting superhero by night- -who is mistakenly apprehended when the Mona Woofa is stolen from the museum; he paints his way out of prison and succeeds in catching the crooks in his improvised Brushmobile. The grateful museum director offers Art Dog a one-man show, during which the artist unveils his masterpiece: He paints the sky into a ``Starry Night'' look-alike. In addition to its comic-book birthright, this tale recalls Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (1958) and Jon Agee's The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau (1988) while paying homage to several of art's masters: The paintings in the museum are fully recognizable to readers, with dogs substituted for people; among them the artists are Vincent Van Dog and Henri Muttisse. Hurd (Tomato Soup, 1992, etc.) employs a disarming, deliberately slapdash style, blazing a trail of scrawled charm across the streets and skies of Gotham; Art Dog is a superhero for all times. (Picture book. 4-8)"