Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio

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Gaston
by Kelly DiPucchio

The cover of this book caught my attention when I was at the library, so I gave it a quick read. Aww. It's the story of a dog family with four little puppies: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La, and Gason. Yeah. One of these things is not like the others. The first three are poodles and the fourth is... well... buldog-like. Gaston has some trouble fitting into the family, prancing about, etc. And it's pretty obvious something isn't right here; even his poodle mother notices. Then, one day, the family runs into a family of dogs that are all bulldogs... and one poodle! Ah! Now it makes sense! The two puppies had accidentally been switched. So they switch back. At this point in the story, I started feeling uncomfortable about what message that sent to kids--that all members of families had to look and act the same? Uh oh, I'm not on board with this.

But apparently I shouldn't have worried. Once the puppies are switched, the families look the same, but things do NOT go well. Gaston is too proper and doesn't know how to handle the bulldogs. And his old family have a hard time with their new poodle who is rough and yippy, not yappy. So the families realize they must switch back. It doens't matter what their pups look like. It just matters that they love each other and are family. Awwwwwww. So the two families are bonded and the sibblings teach each other the benefits of diversity. Awww.

The art is endearing. The story perfect ad heart-warming. And it teaches a great message.