Stick Dog Gets the Tacos, by Tom Watson | Book Review

The Children’s Book Review

Stick Dog Gets the Tacos

Written and Illustrated by Tom Watson

Age Range:  8-12

Hardcover Book: 224 pages

ISBN: 9780062685186

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (February 5, 2019)

What to expect: Animals, humor, and tacos

Stick Dog and all of his poochy pals are back and ready to eat – tacos!

Karen, the dog, has seen something horrible! She rushes to tell Stick Dog and their friends to come quick and help rescue a helpless animal stuck in a tree. Only when they get there, Stick Dog and the friends realize it’s not a dog. It’s some sort of fake unicorn made of paper that the humans are calling a Piñata. Something is afoot, Stick Dog realizes, and his snooping is rewarded with great news: these silly humans are planning a picnic outside with something called tacos. What an opportunity to feed some hungry pups!

So begins Stick Dog’s adventure learning about tacos, green stuff in a bowl (turns out its guacamole!), chips, and the mysterious Piñata. What is inside of them that the human children are so excited about? Stick Dog can hardly stand the mystery and anticipation. Will he and his friends get to experience the deliciousness of tacos? Will they decide if guacamole is better on its own, and how to eat it on a chip if you don’t have any hands? WHAT IS IN THE PIÑATA? Stick Dog must use all of his street smarts and superior sense of smell to feed his friends and get back out safely.

Tom Watson’s adorable stick-figure drawings of dogs pepper the pages of this journal-style notebook, complete with notebook lines on the paper. It’s a delightful setup that will make children giggle. It’s silly and fun, and Stick Dog and his companions are hilarious (Stick Dog is particularly witty). Readers will feel like they’re in on the story, reading Stick Dog’s journal. It’s a sweet adventure perfect for reading time or bedtime. There’s even a tutorial at the end to draw stick-figure pups. What an exciting addition to the Stick Dog lineup!

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About the Author-Illustrator

Tom Watson lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter, and son. He also has a dog, as you could probably guess. The dog is a Labrador-Newfoundland mix. Tom says he looks like a Labrador with a bad perm. He wanted to name the dog “Put Your Shirt On” (please don’t ask why), but he was outvoted by his family. The dog’s name is Shadow. Early in his career Tom worked in politics, including a stint as the chief speechwriter for the governor of Ohio. This experience helped him develop the unique, storytelling narrative style of the Stick Dog books. More important, Tom’s time in politics made him realize a very important thing: Kids are way smarter than adults. And it’s a lot more fun and rewarding to write stories for them than to write speeches for grown-ups.

Stick Dog Gets the Tacos, written and illustrated by Tom Watson, was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like Stick Dog Gets the Tacos by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Dogs, Food, Humorous Books, Illustrated Chapter Books, and Tom Watson.