Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 128 pages
- Published by: Berkley Trade; Reprint edition November 4, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0425217744
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0425217740
-
Book Dimensions:
7.2 x 5 x 0.5 inches
- Weighs: 6.4 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer Prize–winning humorist Barry (
Big Trouble) spins a nostalgic tale about a boy and his dog on Christmas Eve, 1960. Junior high schooler Doug Barnes is playing a shepherd in the Christmas pageant at the bat-infested Episcopal Church. When the Barnes family dog dies on Christmas Eve, Doug and his father end up adopting a shelter dog, Walter, a charmer who manages to wreck the pageant. Accompanying Barry's snappy narrative are photographs and goofy advertisements from the period. Barry is a crowd pleaser and doesn't disappoint with this tale.
(Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From AudioFile
What do you tell your little sister when her dog dies on Christmas Eve? In the Christmas extravaganza, is it better to be a shepherd or a "Three King"? What do you do when a ton of bat poop breaks through the floor of the church belfry and drops on your sweetheart? This child's first-person account of a Christmas pageant gone awry reminds one of Jean Shepherd's classic A CHRISTMAS STORY. However, Barry's reading is flat and a bit rushed. He steps on his jokes. Yet the risible situations--as when the hero's dad disguises the dog's corpse as part of a crche--manage to shine through. Y.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog (Hardcover)
You know what to expect from a Dave Barry book, and he doesn't disappoint us here. This humorous Christmas tale is told by a young boy living in the 1960s in a New York City suburb. "Doug Barnes" gets sidetracked in the telling, as adolescent boys often do, but eventually we realize that the story is really about Christmas Eve, church Christmas pageants in general, and one "magical" one in particular. Barry is quick to point out that any resemblance of this story's characters to people in his true hometown is "frankly, a bewildering coincidence." But parts of this adventure just HAVE to be based on past experience. You can't make up stuff like this. Easy to polish off in less than an hour, this book may well be appropriate to read aloud when the family is gathered 'round the eggnog on Christmas Eve. It's sure to dredge up memories of Christmas pageants of the past. As a matter of fact: I hadn't given it a thought in many years, but Barry's story prompted me to remember the only Christmas pageant *I* was ever forced to take part in. Guess I wasn't much older than "Doug Barnes," and it was a Christmas in the late '60s or early '70s. Snowflakes were falling over our part of southeastern Pennsylvania. They were light enough that the Lutheran church service wasn't cancelled, but they were heavy enough to keep many people at home that night -- including the girl who was supposed to play the part of Mary. Suddenly I was promoted from second angel to one of the most visible roles in church history. I shuffled down the aisle, trying not to trip over the hastily-hemmed skirt that threatened to poke pinholes into my bare legs. Next to me marched a much older and larger boy whom I barely knew and had never had occasion to speak to. And we were supposed to be Mary and Joseph? Puh-leeze. Thank goodness not many people witnessed that scene! My only regret is that the church bulletin didn't credit me for my stand-in performance. Alas, we had no bats in the belfry, Brenda Lee songs, or dogs named Frank and Walter to make things more interesting. Thanks, Dave, for the trip down Memory Lane...
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