Dr. Dog

Cole (Mommy Laid an Egg) uses a medical pretext to indulge fans of scatological jokes in this off-color, disjointed tale. Things begin innocently enough: the Gumboyle family's dog is not only their pet but their doctor. Dr. Dog discourages one Gumboyle from smoking by showing a diagram of tar-filled lungs, and he performs a tonsillectomy on another. But the prognosis for good reading takes a turn for the worse with a drawn-out description of Baby Gumboyle's worm problem, which prompts some catchy advice from Dr. Dog: "Never scratch your bum and suck your thumb!'' Equally disconcerting are the pages on beer-and-baked-beans aficionado Grandpa, diagnosed as having that "terrible wind'' that must "blast out of your bottom.'' Though such passages may leave modest readers aghast (har har), they are likely to inspire hilarity in the toilet-humor crowd, particularly when Grandpa's "wind'' blows the roof off the Gumboyle home. Few others will embrace this indelicate story, but admirers of Everybody Poops are in luck. Ages 4-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved