A Day in the Life of Murphy (Murphy)

In this clever canine caper, Caldecott Medalist Provensen (The Glorious Flight) introduces an irrepressibly rambunctious-and chatty-narrator. Actually, he introduces himself: "Murphy-Stop-That is my name. I am a terrier. I bark./ I bark at anything and everything and all the time./ I sleep in a barn with a dumb cat and a dumb hound, / and a lot of other dumb farm animals." In a perky, stream-of-consciousness monologue, the pooch describes his daily doings, beginning with scouring the kitchen for bits of breakfast ("Leftovers. Scraps./ The floor! The floor. Nose over every inch"). Provensen's animated oil paintings, filled with playful particulars, follow a kind of time-lapse progression as the hero enters the house through the doggy door and follows various scents until he's shooed back out the way he came, with the assistance of a broom. After licking the leaky pipe under the kitchen sink and savoring the stove's "glorious sounds and smells," Murphy hears honking outside, beckoning him for a car trip. Alas, the pet dislikes both the ride ("Snivel./ Grumble./ Groan./ Are we there yet?") and the destination-the vet ("Oh-oh, it's my turn to be/ pinched poked prodded. Doesn't hurt, but get me out of here!"). A spread of the waiting room depicts an array of furry friends from pups to elderly dogs to a wary-looking cat. Provensen's animated oil paintings follow the amiable, wide-eyed dog through the ups and downs of his day, which ends on a pleasant, predictably noisy note. Ages 3-7. (May) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 2-A bristle-haired terrier recounts his routine, which includes barking, bustling from place to place, eating, sniffing, and, of course, more barking. The stream-of-doggy-consciousness narration is matched by equally amusing and energetic paintings. Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Refreshing...Murphy practically jumps out of your hands...Alice Provensen is certainly an artist, in word and image."

— "New York Times Book Review"