Horn Book

A boy finds that his dog has a secret life as owner of a nightclub where dogs 'have no masters . . no leashes, and no rolled-up newspapers''--'a place where dogs can be dogs.' Hand lettering is embellished with words that mix illustration with text. Rendered in pastels on recycled paper, the illustrations depict a suave canine, sporting a suit and sunglasses, and a very surprised boy.

Kirkus Reviews

Early one morning, a boy sees his dog step out of a limousine wearing a tuxedo. The next night, the boy follows his dog and discovers that the pet he always thought of as boring (he can't sing, like the neighbor's dog, or change channels on the TV) is actually the suave owner of a swinging nightclub called The Doghouse.'' At the club, the boy meets two mean bulldog bouncers, a cocker spaniel waitress, and a glamorous greyhound, among other canine lounge lizards. His dog explains the point of his club:See all the sofas? We can sit on the sofas here. We can get treats without having to lie down, roll over, or play dead....This? This is a place where dogs can be dogs.'' Laden's dog characters are especially keenly drawn. The type (made to look like the boy's handwriting, with pictures drawn around some words) can be a little fussy looking, but it fits the tone. A whimsical book. (Picture book. 4-10)"

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

Making an auspicious entry into children's books, Laden provides a stylish, droll answer to the riddle of what dogs do while their owners sleep. Her narrator is forced to revise his low opinion of the seemingly sedentary family pet (I always thought he was a boring dog'') after he spies the pooch alighting from a limousine early one morning, wearing a tuxedo. Tailing him that night, he discovers that the doghouse is in fact a well-appointed bachelor pad and his dog the owner of a spiffy canine nightclub, where dogs go to relax, get treats without having to lie down or play dead, andtalk about their problems with the mailman, or with the poodle next door.'' Skewed angles and perspectives and a mauve-and-midnight-blue palette ably capture the boy's disorientation, wonder and eventual admiration of his pet's jaunty after-hours persona. The art is at once broadly expressive and full of small, witty details (e.g., the limousine's vanity plate reads K-9). The visual playfulness extends even to the hand-lettered text, which is animated by such variations as inverted lettering for roll over,'' chewed lettering forhungry,'' and near-pictograms (the word ``sit'' rests on a chair). A salutary outing spun from a simple but rich idea. Ages 4-10. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4--It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your dog is?'' If not, join in this book's extraordinary suppositions. A young boy relates the events ofthe night I followed my dog.'' A dull pet by day, the pup dons a tuxedo and tie after dark, climbs into his limo (vanity plate--K9), and goes to his club, The Doghouse. Bogart's got nothing on this pooch as he shows his young master, who has secretly tailed him, around the club. The crisp and colorful pastel drawings of the anthropomorphized clientele are amusing, but best of all is the frolicking text with several words per page decked out in appropriate illustrative (almost rebus) fashion. Sophisticated enough for older children and silly enough for younger listeners, this boy-and-his-dog book has a clever text, great illustrations, and strong appeal.--Jody McCoy, Casady School, Oklahoma City