Book Review: The Dog Who Cried Snake

The Dog Who Cried Snake
By Larry McCloskey

113 pages • ISBN 978-0-99533-602-5

“We used to be on the street with nothing, nothing at all. Most of the time we didn’t know where our next meal was coming from. We still don’t have a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence – in fact, we still life on the street – but we know how to scrounge around and find something to eat most of the time. And we have a secret place where we can get warm and sleep at night: we sneak through the parking garage at the shopping centre to a small underground room with a big, cozy hating vent.”

Life is never easy on the street, especially during the coldest week of cold winter, in one of the coldest capitals in the world. Still, Mic and Max get by, giving and getting a little help from their friends. But when one of their street friends freezes to death under suspicious circumstances, their quiet lives change forever. Suddenly the Snake Crew bullies become threatening, and street people can’t even call familiar streets their home.

But, the Snake Crew may have underestimated Mickey, a feisty old woman, and her equally feisty prime pooch, Max. Mic and Max are smart, dedicated to their pals on the street, and they share a secret weapon. Max, a Chihuahua Jack Russell mix, can talk, but only Mickey can hear him. Though they have no one to turn to, and the situation seems hopeless, Mic and Max are determined to solve the mysterious death, ad save their pals on the street.

Larry McCloskey lives in Ottawa with his three daughters, two dogs and one wife. He is co-founder of Dog-Eared Books.