I enjoyed the illustrations, but this book made very little sense to me. I thought it was going to be about finding ways to turn struggles into strengths, but they lost me when imaginary dogs frightened away real burglars.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There's nothing I liked about this book.

This is a picture book about young Molly who is dealing with a lot of anxiety. Her outlet is to draw, and draw she does. The wild dogs in her head are drawn everywhere. Just as there are many people who do not understand anxiety, everyone tries to get her to stop drawing her dogs. In a panic, she runs away and hides in a shed. She is found safely the next day by her teacher and instead of being admonished for drawing her dogs, she is encouraged to share her art. I am not sure about this book. It has me concerned about the running away part of the story. I know this is based on a Japanese folktale and has its use with children, but perhaps older ones who understand that the running away is metaphorical and not a good thing to do. I will not be reading this one to my grandson (who has a lot of anxiety issues) as I believe he is too young to understand the story.

A bit more of a symbol/metaphor for depression or mental health issues, the only thing is the ending is so abrupt that I was left dissatisfied.

Molly uses her imagination and creativity to help to harness the stresses of school in the form of a pack of dogs that comes into her mind to soothe her. At first no one understands why drawing these dogs help her cope, but when her teachers try to push the dogs away and get her to focus the anxiety becomes too much. In the end the adults in her life realize that some children have unique ways to handle what life gives them and Molly's talents are recognized. Beautifully illustrated, this book celebrates the fact that it is ok to be different and that each individual should be allowed to learn and navigate life in a way that is best for them with support and not criticism.

Topics of anxiety and emotions were focused on in this book. The style of artwork in the book and the topics discussed indicate that this book is meant for an older child who can relate to the content. It was an unusual story that some parents may like for their children, but I don't think that I will share it with my children when they get older.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

Molly becomes fixated on dogs before the first day of school and begins to see them everywhere and begins drawing ( maybe a coping mechanism). There are scenes when the dogs’ behavior seems menacing, but other times they are calm and comforting. The disapproval of the adults seems unkind, but it is resolved in the end with understanding. The muted colors and shadowy dog figures adds to the magical realism of the picture book. I thought maybe a note to parents or children would be included to explain the emotions brought up in the story.

Thanks to the publisher for sharing this title. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Do you ever feel anxious? I’m sure you do as we all can experience anxiety in different ways throughout our lives. In When Molly Drew Dogs by Deborah Kerbel we meet Molly. One day some dogs moved into her head and she could not stop drawing them everywhere. Interestingly, the dogs moved in right before Molly was about to start school. At home, in school, with her tutor Mr. Russell, she had to draw dogs which made it really hard to concentrate and learn. One day when the grown ups reach the peak of their frustration with the dogs, Molly runs away. She spends the night in a shed with a pack of dogs in sweaters that she drew. In the morning, the strangest thing has happened. A pack of dogs in sweaters has scared off a neighbourhood thief. Ms. Shepherd, Molly’s teacher, can’t really believe it.

There is a lovely message in this story about the need to help children express their feelings in a way that is authentic to them. I think it’s more a message for educators and parents rather than children. Creating an environment where children can feel successful is so incredibly important in education and life. When the grown ups in the story stop fighting against Molly’s dogs and embrace them, Molly is happier, she is contributing to her class and is being treated with compassion and she feels calmer. We need to help children learn emotional regulation. Molly uses the drawings to help her manage her big feelings that manifest themselves as dogs: her feelings of anxiety over starting school.

Dog lovers will enjoy the little Easter eggs Deborah Kerbel leaves throughout the story in the names of her characters. All of the surnames are dog breeds, so fun!

The art by Lis Xu is lovely. Soft and textured perfectly featuring the dogs in Molly’s head like shadows and line drawings. The art may not leap right off the pages but it is subtle and calming, an attempt to calm anxious thoughts and feelings.

I had in mind a retelling of The Boy Who Drew Dogs, but it wasn't. Too much of the story is missing! I'm not exactly sure what was so wrong with the girl that her parents, teachers, etc, were so put off by her. No explanation is ever given. Her dogs come to life and chase off buglers and now all is well??? Nope. Doesn't work for me. Sorry. Artwork in book was wonderful.

A rather unusual book! The character in this book does not conform to what one would call "typical" behavior. She does not seem to want to - she is pretty happy with her imaginary dogs. Nor would she be able to if she tried. The book teaches us about the importance of empathy, understanding, acceptance and mental health.

When Molly Drew Dogs is a cute book about the power of the imagination.
The drawings are very cute.

Thanks NetGalley and OwlKids Books for the ARC.

Arc Copy...I would review as a good insight into mental conditions and how the power of art channel it into something good if taken with a good enlightenment + understanding.

I want to like this picture book but I just can't. It's about a young girl who can't stop drawing wild dogs, which annoys her family and teacher. Overwhelmed by her emotions, she runs away and ends up in a shed where she is cold, hungry and scared. She draws dogs with coats to keep her company and in the night she hears terrible howling. In the morning, her teacher finds her and is now a fan of dogs, since it turns out that robbers broke into the neighborhood in the night and were chased away by a pack of wild dogs wearing coats.

I don't know what the point of this is. It doesn't teach children how to deal with their big emotions, doesn't show how her artistic ability could actually help her and be a good thing in real life, and the strange supernatural twist was just odd. Children should be supported in all their interests and helped with their overwhelming emotions, but this book doesn't really say that. I also dislike the Rudolph message of it (what makes you different will make others mean to you unless it ends up accidentally benefiting them).

My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

When Molly drew dogs, she was scolded by her teacher, ran away from school, got lost, and was missing overnight. Now, she’s back in class entertaining her teacher and classmates, seated on a rug, while she stands at the front of the room drawing dogs on the chalkboard.

It is significant to note that Deborah Kerbel’s book is a retelling of a Japanese fairy tale, but with problems of all sorts. Originally about a boy who draws cats, refitting the narrative to suit a girl who draws dogs isn’t unconventional by any stretch of the imagination, and it works. The rest, however, does not. The lesson here is to really know the original and understand why it works. In this case, failure to include enough of the plot through analogous events means there isn’t enough of the story to build a sound conflict and resolution. Had this adhered more closely to the traditional version, the product could have yielded better plot continuity, given pretext for the impromptu neighborhood robber, and ended with a resolution that absolves or reconciles the Molly and the conflict of her initially problematic drawings.

In the Japanese fairy tale, the youngest son of a farmer is small and weak, and rather than working the fields, spends all of his time drawing cats. Because of his stature and preoccupation, his father finds him ill-suited to farm work, decides that the boy’s future may be suited to clergy work, and sends him to study with a priest at a temple. Again, his cat drawing is problematic and the priest recommends he return home and become an artist. Instead, he is ashamed and seeks out an alternative. The priest, having knowledge of a monstrous creature, warns him to avoid large areas and keep to the small, but gives him no extra information.

The boy ends up at an abandoned temple where, unbeknownst to him, the monks formerly occupying the temple were driven away by a giant goblin-rat. Alone and surrounded by blank walls, the boy draws cats until he tires and goes to sleep in a little cupboard, heeding the priest’s advice about keeping to the small. He hears fighting and screams throughout the night, but remains in the cupboard. Once morning comes, he climbs out to find the corpse of a goblin-rat. His cat drawings still cover the temple walls, but their mouths are stained red with its blood.

His heroic worthy deed earns him the respect of his community and the monks, now able to return to the temple. The boy becomes abbot of the temple. The end.

Right? In the original Japanese tale, yes. The father was right about a future with the clergy for the small boy. Most importantly though, the boy’s habit of drawing cats, initially viewed as a character flaw or negative trait precipitates the salvation of a temple and allows for the return of the displaced monks. The cat-drawing behavior loses its unfavorable stigma. Conflict resolved. His father’s idea for the boy to make a life for himself with the monks has been realized. The priest’s teachings weren’t the reason for the boy’s now promising future as the father anticipated, but that’s of no consequence. Character arc has run its full course, there are no loose ends, and the story has closure.

Lafcadio Hearn translated the tale to English for publication in a volume of Japanese fairy tales. Hearn takes creativity liberty with the story’s conclusion though, hailing the boy a hero among his people and repainting him as a renowned artist rather than the temple’s keeper. This ending is the most prevalent and well-known.

Kerbel’s version lacks the elements that make a corresponding story possible. Molly’s dog-drawing and the problems it caused at home and at school overwhelmed her. Her feelings caused her to run away in the middle of class, get lost in the rain, and fall asleep in a random shed. While there, she drew dogs (with coats, for some reason—cute but irrelevant and inconsequential) and fell asleep. She woke too, hearing growling and fighting just like the original Japanese version’s boy in the temple cupboard.

By some stroke of strangeness, it was Molly’s teacher who found her the next morning. (I’d have guessed police or grandmother, and I’d have been wrong.) Surprisingly, the police were likely busy tracking down the neighborhood robber who popped into the book unannounced overnight. Luckily, the day before, Molly had run away from school and drawn dogs (with coats!) inside a shed before hitting the hay. The neighborhood robber had been chased off by a pack of dogs—wearing coats. In the last scene of the book, Molly is back at school drawing dogs on the chalkboard while her teacher and fellow students sit on a rug as her captive audience.

Unless Molly happens to become overwhelmed and get herself lost on the same date in the same vicinity that a neighborhood robber plans to make an appearance, nothing is resolved. She hasn’t learned to deal with her emotions or turn her dog-drawing proclivity into something beneficial. Even if her coat-wearing dogs could be credited with successfully deterring a robber, should running out of class and becoming lost overnight be recognized by giving her the class spotlight drawing dogs? Being scolded by her teacher—NO DOGS ALLOWED—caused her to run away.

There isn’t enough of the original tale left for this to pass as an acceptable retelling and what remains is flawed.


Thanks to Owlkids Books and NetGalley for the provided e-ARC and the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest, unbiased, and voluntary. #NetGalley #WhenMollyDrewDogs

I've come across a few picture books like this, ones that encourage children to run away when they have strong feelings. Those were older, though, and I assumed that idea was a relic from another time. Apparently not. Here we have a story in which a young girl is unable to concentrate. She's obviously creative, but adults just want to make her conform. When she doesn't, they lose their patience. So she runs away and puts herself in a potentially dangerous situation.

I just can't recommend a book with this kind of message. I hoped there would be something about accepting yourself and your gifts, but instead we got a supernatural twist that doesn't translate to real life at all, and an abrupt happy-ever-after ending that comes out of nowhere. Molly presumably still can't concentrate... but because her magic dogs chased away a robber, she gets a free pass in school? How is that supposed to help kids who might be struggling with ADHD or learning disabilities?

The pictures left me kind of cold. Nearly everyone is androgynous (and I'm not sure if that was a style choice or just from a lack of skill) and the dogs are scribbly. Some pages looked like a toddler was let loose with a pencil. It's just not very pleasing to the eye.

Overall, this was a disappointment. I'm really tired of reading books that are supposedly about dealing with emotions, only to find that the only coping skill offered boils down to "run away".

"When Molly Drew Dogs," by Deborah Kerbel is a unique children's picture book about "...a pack of stray dogs [who] moved into Molly Akita's head." The story is about the power of imagination, creativity, and art on mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, etc.

Molly is struggling in school and has a hard time focusing because of the stray dogs in her head that she is always drawing and coloring. Her teacher and tutor become frustrated when they cannot keep her focus and she becomes afraid. This is a good book for kids with similar issues from traumatic events such as the loss of a parent or divorce.

The book is also a parable for parents and caregivers teaching us the power of art in a child's life and how it can bring peace and healing to them. This was an excellent book!

I received this as an eBook from Owlkids Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the title. I did not receive any compensation from either company. The opinions expressed herein are completely my own.

This is the cutest, most imaginative and creative book. It is simple, but so profound in its story and message. I loved it from start to finish!

ANXIETY AND ART
What a moving story about little Molly and her use of art to cope with anxiety, with such tender illustrations and text. The story is based on a Japanese fairy tale, The Boy Who Drew Cats, translated by Cincinnati journalist Lafcadio Hearn.

DOGS IN HER HEAD
Molly begins to have visions of stray dogs the night before her first day of school. She begins to draw them compulsively to get them out of her head, and continues in class the next day, despite exhortations by her teacher and special tutor. With no way to cope with mounting anxiety, she runs out of school, through the rain, then into a shed for shelter, where she spends the night, drawing a pack of dogs with coats for warmth and food bowls for nourishment. She’s found by her teacher and in school the next day, encouraged to share her art with the class.

HORROR KING’S BRAIN
The tale reminds me of an interview with Stephen King, who when asked about his story inspirations replied, “I had so many competing ideas racing through my head that I had to write to get them out.” And thank God he did, as we are the blessed beneficiaries.

MENTAL ILLNESS OR CREATIVITY?
So this poignant story raises questions about mental illness, about creativity, and how to best encourage our most fertile minds. I think the sweet ending in WHEN MOLLY DREW DOGS is the answer. 5 of 5 of the Highest Stars

Pub Date 17 Sep 2019

Thanks to the author, Owlkids Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#WhenMollyDrewDogs #NetGalley