Author: Dav Pilkey
Genre: Animals / Pets / Habits
Year Published: 1994
Year Read: 2014
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 4+ (Some Gross Humor)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
After reading the breakthrough children’s book hit “Walter the Farting Dog,” I wanted to
check out more children’s books about dogs who have problems that cause them to
smell and I stumbled upon this little unique book called “Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis” by Dav Pilkey!
Hally Tosis was a cute little dog who lived with the Tosis
family and was extremely friendly towards everyone. But, she had one little problem…
SHE HAS REALLY BAD
BREATH!
Everywhere that Hally Tosis goes; her bad breath would knock
everyone off their feet including the Tosis family’s Grandmother Tosis! So when Hally Tosis’ bad breath becomes too
unbearable for the family, the Tosis family decided to give away Hally, even
though the children were upset about this.
So in a last attempt to save Hally, the Tosis children tried to help
Hally get rid of her horrible breath through various methods including taking
her to a movie that would literally take her breath away. But, all of these methods ended up failing
and the children were forced to say good-bye to Hally. But one night, two
robbers ended up breaking into the Tosis family’s house and…
Can Hally Tosis save the day?
Read this book to find out!
I have read many books by Dav Pilkey, including his famous “Captain Underpants” series, but “Dog Breath” was probably one of the most unique books I had ever
read by him! Dav Pilkey’s writing was cute and hilarious as it details Hally’s
unfortunate problem with her bad breath and how it affects those around
her. I loved the way that Dav Pilkey made Hally into such a
friendly dog who is unaware of how bad her breath is and she is always shown to
be cheerful and blissful, despite the fact that her bad breath causes people to
either run away from her or be knocked out unconscious. I also loved the fact that the Tosis family
really does care about Hally, despite them being put off by Hally’s bad breath
and it really shows during the scene where the Tosis family is forced to find a
new home for Hally and they are crying when they are putting up the “free dog”
sign. Dav Pilkey’s artwork is cute and colorful to look at, especially
the image of Hally herself as she is shown to be an extremely cute dog who has
a big smile on her face despite her bad breath giving everyone grief. I also loved the way that Dav Pilkey shows Hally’s bad breath as it
is shown as a green smoke coming out of her mouth and the images of various
people being knocked out by her bad breath is hilarious to see!
The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was
because compared to “Walter the Farting
Dog,” I felt that some parts of this book were a bit bland in the
storytelling. I actually wished that
there were more dimensions to the Tosis family as they barely have any dialogue
(save for the scene where the parents decided to do something about Hally) and
I wanted to see the Tosis family deal with Hally’s bad breath in a more
intriguing way. Also, it might be
because I already read a book that was similar to this premise and had a more
interesting way of dealing with a dog’s smelly problem (Walter the Farting Dog).
Overall, “Dog Breath:
The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis” is a really cute book about how a
family tries to accept their dog’s unconventional problem and how that problem
could be used more resourcefully than they thought. I would recommend this book to children ages
four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book (unless the idea
about a dog having smelly breath seems gross to some)!
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