Not one of my favorite books. Has a nice moral of being careful what you wish for and appreciating what you have. The pictures are pretty, but my son and I didn't really enjoy the book as much as I thought we would have.

I adore Eddie, the dog in this book, especially the illustrations of the dog!!! I love all the illustrations. The birds are amazing, Almost every page is amazing. My favorite two page illustration is probably the one where Al is lying in a small waterfall and Eddie is on shore chasing butterflies.

The story is funny and cute and I really liked it, although had I not known it was a children’s picture book for young kids, I would have experienced a couple of pages worth of terror at one point in the story. The story is about Al the janitor and his talking dog Eddie, and an adventure they have, thanks to a bird. The love Al feels for Eddie seems so genuine and touching. I felt a bit melancholy reading this and feel a great need for a “dog fix” which for me means petting a dog. I like that the main human character is a struggling janitor and how the story shows that the green grass on the other side isn’t always what’s most desired.

Much thanks to Izzy, who really enjoyed this book, as reported by Chandra. It’s why I borrowed and read this quirky book, and I’m so glad that I did.

"Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found."

I find that even it's intended audience are children's, most often we see other's grasses are greener than us, it feels good to be savored by something new, by something they enjoy, and lavish on. However, we do not wish to be like them, we do not wish to change ourselves to put ourselves in their own privilege - and it's better to be yourself, and see your 'suffering' into a new perspective.

A lesson that the grass isn't alwats greener on the other side of the fence.

This is kind of a bizarre book. It's about a janitor and his dog, a dog who pines for a better life. A bird comes along and invites them to live on an island in the sky. It's a paradise and they are completely happy...for a bit.

5/15/15
A bittersweet story about wanting to live in paradise and a man and his dog

Nice story, but it might be too confusing of an ending. I know I was slightly confused about how it ended and what would happen next. It has wonderful art throughout though.

Caldecott-winning illustrations, unengaging story.

Caldecott winner, 1987
Al and his dog Eddie are tired of living in a cramped apartment with a crappy job. So they travel to a magic bird island where everything seems like paradise...until they start turning into birds too.

Nostalgia nostalgia nostalgia! I'd read this over and over again.