Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Ten dogs create a lively, harum-scarum morning for their pajama-clad owner when they escape to the park. Clever verse uses the dogs' names effectively ("Queenie! Wienie! Meanie! Moe!"), and "Doggone dogs" serves as both an epithet and a chorus. Exaggerated illustrations suit the mood, and with a reverse countdown the dogs are back at home.

Kirkus Reviews

A man with an ultra-thin face and a pointed tuft of red hair is the harried owner of ten exuberant dogs, and "exuberant" is the definitive description of both the pack of pooches and this frenetically funny story. At sunup the ten dogs fly off the bed and out the door to the park, where they interrupt an obedience class and get into mischief, losing their owner along the way. The park's dogcatcher captures the pack and locks it up, but the dogs manage to escape and find their way back home by nightfall, reuniting with their hapless owner. The succinct, rhyming text bounces along just like the runaways, numerically counting up the dogs and naming them in a fast-paced, catchy rhyme: "One dog, / Two dogs, / Three dogs, / Four, / Doggone dogs run out the door." Catrow's signature watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are bouncy and spirited as well, with mischievous looks and grins on the faces of the ten distinctly different dogs. In the crowded arena of dog stories, this one stands out from the pack. (Picture book. 3-6)

School Library Journal (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

PreS-K The hapless owner of 10 energetic dogs is rudely awakened at dawn by their barking. When they are told to lie down or sit, they do not obey. Instead, they run helter-skelter outdoors, with their pajama-clad owner chasing them and clutching empty leashes all the way to Central Bark. The dogs wreak havoc at the Perfect Pooch Obedience School and cavort through the grass, dumping the trash, climbing the slide, and making a mess of everything. Further disaster ensues when the pups poop. The trainer quits, the Pup Tech 5000 comes rolling along to clean up, and the dogs are put in a pen. However, they are not ready to bow to defeat. They leap and dig their way out and run back home, followed by their still-pajama-clad owner still clutching the leashes. The dogs collapse on the couch and rest up, as they "Cannot wait to go again!" The minimal rhyming text is paired with Catrow's exuberant, comic, pencil and watercolor illustrations. The frenetic, goofy-looking dogs of various sizes and breeds romping through the park are sure to bring smiles to young faces. Linda Staskus, Parma Regional Library, OH