From Publishers Weekly
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. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-The Gumboyles' pet beagle, Dr. Dog, teaches his family that smoking hurts their lungs, that germs can attack tonsils, and that nits live in hair. He then proceeds to explain that Baby Gumboyle caught worms by not washing his hands after using the toilet. He issues the admonition, "Never scratch your bum and suck your thumb!") The coup de grace, however, is Granddad's gastrointestinal problem from eating too many baked beans and drinking too much beer; "...he farted so hard he blew the roof right off the house!" Children will no doubt learn a few hygiene lessons here, and find this story funny. Despite the silliness of the presentation, the information is basically accurate and important. The illustrations are typical Cole-full of humorous detail, including cartoon drawings of the "tubes" inside the human body. On-target health lessons delivered with a decidedly different slant.Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, NYCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Ages 5-9. If disgusting habits like nose picking and breaking wind are off limits in books for kids, nobody told British author-artist Cole. And nobody told the Gumboyle family, each of whom develops some unpleasant health problem, often stemming from poor hygiene. When their physician, Dr. Dog, returns from a medical conference, he has his paws full of trouble: Kev, for example, has swapped his comb for a headful of lice; baby's got worms ("Never scratch your bum and suck your thumb"); Kurt, who's been smoking in the bicycle shed, has a "wicked cough"; and Granddad's "dangerous gases" (from baked beans and beer) are sufficient to send him sailing through the roof. The story framework is slight, and the biology isn't specific ("Here's a picture of your inside tubes"). But as Dr. Dog teaches the Gumboyles a little about healthier habits, kids will learn, too. The candor, evident in both the zany cartoon artwork and the text, is both disarming and funny. An easy way to make the medicine go down. Stephanie Zvirin


From Kirkus Reviews
Poor Dr. Dog, the hapless Gumboyle family pet and doctor who is pulled away from a conference in Brazil to tend to his sick and rather disgusting owners. They smoke, they catch colds, they get nits in their hair and worms in their stomachs. One of them, Grandpa Gumboyle, has such a bad gas problem that he farts explosively enough to blow the roof off of their house. Dr. Dog cures them all, but it's no wonder he needs to get away to a deserted island at the end of the book. The reader may wish for a similar escape before this story is over. There is interesting information here--why smoking makes us cough, why we shouldn't swap brushes and combs, why we should always wash our hands. And Cole, never one to shy away from bodily functions, is typically offbeat and funny both in her text and her illustrations. As she did in her last book (Mummy Laid an Egg, 1993), she uses children's-style drawings to help the bug-eyed Dr. Dog explain each case. Still, the material in this original and irreverent look at common illnesses and afflictions is gross: `` `Never scratch your bum and suck your thumb!' said Dr. Dog.'' Ugh, puke. (Fiction/Picture book. 4-6) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Dr. dog is not your usual doctor. For one thing, he makes house calls. For another, he's a pet beagle! When his entire family falls sick, only Dr. Dog can save the day, with cure for head lice, pinworms, and (yikes!) even a case of too much gas...


From the Inside Flap
Dr. dog is not your usual doctor. For one thing, he makes house calls. For another, he's a pet beagle! When his entire family falls sick, only Dr. Dog can save the day, with cure for head lice, pinworms, and (yikes!) even a case of too much gas...

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dr. dog is not your usual doctor. For one thing, he makes house calls. For another, he's a pet beagle! When his entire family falls sick, only Dr. Dog can save the day, with cure for head lice, pinworms, and (yikes!) even a case of too much gas...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This "off-color, disjointed tale" with a medical pretext is "likely to inspire hilarity in the toilet-humor crowd," said PW. Ages 4-6. (Mar.)

School Library Journal