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The 101 Dalmatians (The Hundred and One Dalmatians #1)

by Dodie Smith, Michael Dooling (Illustrator)

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 13,305 ratings · 330 reviews

The Hundred and One Dalmatians, or the Great Dog Robbery is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the robbery of the titular family of 101 Dalmatian dogs. A sequel entitled The Starlight Barking continues from the end of the first novel.

At a dinner party attended by the Dearly couple, Cruella de Vil expresses her dislike for animals; subsequently, the couple's new D...more

Paperback, 184 pages

Published April 1st 1989 by Puffin (first published 1956)

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Dec 27, 2012 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been revised and can now be found at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud.

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Jan 03, 2008 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: kids

Recommended to Kelly by: my grandmother

When I was little, I got a copy of this book from my grandmother. It was old, the cover was falling off, and the edges of the pages were stained red. I adored it, and read it several times.

Later came the various movies, first the animated version, which was enjoyable, and then the live-action movie, which was awful. None maintained what captivated me most about the story - the inner life of the dogs and their complexity.

Anyway, I was suddenly seized by the need to read it again, and couldn't fi...more

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Sep 26, 2007 D rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who wants a brilliant, brilliant read

Shelves: ya-lit

O happy day when during a free-reading period in Mrs. Chismar's fifth-grade class I opened an old, dog-eared (as it were) edition of this masterpiece. Smith's ability to evoke a scene and pen enchanting but vulnerable characters earns her a place among the greats. The image of the ancient colonel sharing tea with his Old English Sheepdog in their sound Suffolk country home before a crackling fire on a stormy night is my standard for domestic comfort (Mmm, hot buttered toast). I have only read tw...more

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Mar 10, 2009 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, story-review

The part of this book I liked best was the Starlight Barking. Since reading it at age 9 or so, I have observed the phenomenon innumerable times. It's comforting to know what the dogs are really doing. Thank you, Dodie Smith, for explaining it so well.

Three or four years ago, while I was living in Sunnyvale, I saw a remarkable example of how useful the Starlight Barking can be. My friend Beth Ann has two very smart Dobermanns. Late one evening, both of them suddenly started yelping furiously, for...more

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Jun 01, 2008 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mady-and-me-books

Oh the joy of it. I don't remember seeing the movie as a kid (though I'm told it's the very first movie I ever saw, at a drive-in, at age 4...!) But I vividly remember reading the book when I was in 4th or 5th grade and just loving it. And I wasn't even a "dog person" as a kid (or as an adult, until the past year or so).

Anyway we read it aloud as a chapter book for bedtime last week and it was just as terrific as I remembered. The story is so delightfully British... there is something about the...more

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Feb 27, 2008 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone!

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 05, 2007 April rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

This story was much more of an adventure than I expected it to be. It can also be quite scary and I would not recommend it for very young children or sensitive children or sensitive adults! We all pretty much know the story from the Disney movie (though the movie strays quite a bit from the book, plot, character, etc.) but it's tough to listen to the bad guys talking about skinning the dogs alive and the dogs contemplating revenge by murder. Of course, neither of these things happen, giving the...more

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May 13, 2007 Colin Kinlund rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who despise Disney adaptations

A tale (har har) both sweet and tense, sinister and haunting, pure and whole-hearted. Disney reduced this minor masterpiece to the thinnest frame of its foundation. In this story you can sense the despair, feel the December frost, taste the buttered toast. Also, Mr. Dearly (who is happily married), is a brilliant accountant and mathematician who has been pardoned from income tax for life due to his services to England’s treasury, which I always found vastly more unique and interesting than some...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Sarah Messick-Milone rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-with-joshua

As great as I remember it from Dad reading it to us on that stormy NH vacation stuffed into Cabin 9. Only now I got all the sly grown up jokes. Those familiar with Disney's version will certainly recognize the main plot line but will be pleasantly surprised by the various differences that give the story a little something extra.

One aspect I had a hard time getting over though, was the pervasive and not-so-subtle sexim. The female dogs are all a bit stupid and weaker than their male companions. I...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Niko Ramsey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, read-in-2013, fiction, childrens, nook-read, classic, multiple-reads

I read this book for the first time when I was in fourth grade or so, and it was this, coupled with the Disney movie from my childhood, that instilled my absolute love of Dalmatians. Over the last few months I’ve found myself missing my late dog more than ever, and given that (by nature of my job) I’m in touch with dogs day in and day out, I’ve been giving more and more thought to the next kind of dog I want to bring into my life.

That said, the Dalmatian definitely came to mind. Given that it’s...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childhood

A must-read for fans of the Disney animated movie, to see which parts were kept and discover which parts were lost. The first time I read it I was completely shocked that it was Pongo and Missis who had the puppies, not Pongo and Perdita. Perdita is a completely different Dalmatian, a stray that the Dearly's found to help Missis with the puppies since it isn't healthy for her to nurse all 15 at once. I also very much enjoy the stately and courteous old spaniel and his "pet" Sir Charles who live...more A must-read for fans of the Disney animated movie, to see which parts were kept and discover which parts were lost. The first time I read it I was completely shocked that it was Pongo and Missis who had the puppies, not Pongo and Perdita. Perdita is a completely different Dalmatian, a stray that the Dearly's found to help Missis with the puppies since it isn't healthy for her to nurse all 15 at once. I also very much enjoy the stately and courteous old spaniel and his "pet" Sir Charles who live in the dilapidated old manor house, and the Christmas Eve where the puppies take refuge in a peaceful church. Neither of these quiet interludes made it into the movie.

The "dogdom" society and Twilight Barking are a delight to read. I also love the brash pipe-smoking Staffordshire Terrier in the moving van (he became a Labrador in the movie) who is never called by a proper name in the text, just multiple amusing epithets like the Canine Cannon Ball and the Self-launched Bomb.

The sexism in the book bothers me. Pongo's young puppies have trouble traveling in the harsh winter conditions, the "boys struggled along bravely, but the girls stumbled and panted and had to have many rests." All of the adult female dogs are dim-witted compared to the males. Missis's inability to learn right from left, and occasional slips of the tongue, are met with indulgent "masculine" amusement. Only one of the many dogs who help Pongo and Missis on their journey is female, a red setter. She greets the Dalmatians in a panic because the bakery has caught fire. All the food that was gathered for them is gone, their shelter is going up in smoke, and she has no other way to help them. She's distraught and out of options, and feels very badly that she can't help the Pongos and the puppies. The Pongos kindly tell her it's not her fault and they'll manage, and send her to her master (who has whistled for her repeatedly). As she leaves Pongo calls her "feather-brained as well as feather-tailed" - what a cruel thing to say! Yes, she's in hysterics but c'mon, the bakery IS ON FIRE. There's nothing in the text to suggest she's stupid. Missis excuses her as just being young, probably hasn't had a family yet, which is only marginally better.

Late in the book the author addresses the reader directly. I found it very jarring, at odds with the rest of the narrative tone.

Overall, it's a wonderful adventure story. You can feel the bite of the frost and taste the hot buttered toast. The good guys live happily ever after and the bad guys get their comeuppance.(less)

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Aug 02, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The main reason I wanted to read this one is because it’s written by the author of I Capture the Castle, which I love. Pongo and Missis, a married pair of Dalmatians have a litter of 15 puppies that are kidnapped. Using the Twilight Bark system to contact dogs all over England, they search for their missing pups.

It was interesting to see the differences between this original story and the Disney adaptation (which I watched about a million times when I was little). The main two dogs are Pongo an...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Shawn Thrasher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Is there a better drag queen that Cruella de Vil? Even the name says drag queen. And who but a drag queen (or maybe the Duchess of Windsor in the 30s) would wear the clothes Dodie Smith lovingly details:

"A tight-fitting emerald satin dress, several ropes of rubies, and an absolutely simple white mink cloak."

"A ruby satin dress with ropes of emeralds"

"A black satin dress with ropes of pearls, but the same absolutely simple white mink cloak."

She's one of the best villains in all of bookdom, and to...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Jennifer Selzer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This is one of my all-time favorite books and if you've only ever seen the Disney movie, in any form, animated or otherwise, you truly don't know what you are missing. The Hundred and One Dalmations is an actual novel, and yes, it's a children's novel, and does follow the same basic premise as the movies. However, the story is rich with detail, alive with voice and emotion from the dogs' point of view, and the sweetness between the characters-particularly the dogs-is well worth mentioning. I usu...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Lucinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story was one of many that i apsolutely treasured as a child hence my paperback copy is so fragile that i am afraid to even touch it incase it might disintergrate beneath my fingers or that i might loose one of the many pages that have come loose from the spine. It was a tale that really emphasised my love towards animals and dogs and although i have been around dogs for many years sadly a dalmation has never crossed my path as yet. It was the element of adventure that really sparked my ima...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Genevieve Pearson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of the first chapter books I ever read, and remains my favorite to this date. Not because of nostalgia, but because it genuinely is an incredibly well-written book.

While, when taken at face value, the whole concept seems strange for a book, it fills a role in a niche genre of young adults/youth fiction written from the perspective of animals (Black Beauty, S'not Stew, Watership Down, Bambi, etc.) but while many other books in the genre have a grim, sort of Dickensian approach to the...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Kirsti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Growing up, like many children, Disney was a cause for fascination for me. I loved their animal stories the best, and 101 dalmatians was one of my favorites. It was not until I was around 14 that I first read this book; I found a copy while on holiday at the beach in a pokey second hand store, and was pulled straight back into the book.

Dodie tells a different story to Disney, and in most ways it is more charming. The inclusion of Perdita as the much loved milk giver and washer of the puppies, Po...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-and-modern-classics, youth-fiction, read-as-a-child-or-teen

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN A SMALL AMOUNT OF SPOILERS, BUT IF YOU"VE SEEN THE MOVIE, YOU WILL PROBABLY KNOW THE BASIC PLOT ALREADY.

For the last few nights my bedtime reading book was Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney changed the name a little.) If you grew up the with Disney version, you may not know the original novel on which it is based, which is a little darker, more imaginative and more elegant than the movie. (Please don't kill me, Disney fans!) First published in 1956 by Dodi...more WARNING: MAY CONTAIN A SMALL AMOUNT OF SPOILERS, BUT IF YOU"VE SEEN THE MOVIE, YOU WILL PROBABLY KNOW THE BASIC PLOT ALREADY.

For the last few nights my bedtime reading book was Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney changed the name a little.) If you grew up the with Disney version, you may not know the original novel on which it is based, which is a little darker, more imaginative and more elegant than the movie. (Please don't kill me, Disney fans!) First published in 1956 by Dodie Smith, this is the original story of Pongo, Missus and their pups. Yes, Perdita was originally called Missus. The original Perdita was a dog they got to help nurse their puppies.

Anyway, I won't go into little facts like that, because they're not really important. What is important is that it is a very imaginative and clever story. Dodie Smith invented (or perhaps discovered from her pets) a whole secret dog society of barking to communicate news (The Twilight Barking), helping each other out, and rules and thoughts on the people they live with. The story makes you laugh, and sometimes shiver with fear, and the animals are ridiculously adorable as well as highly intelligent and kind. You will never look at your pets the same way again!

I honestly think this is not just a story for kids. I read it as a child and picked it up again recently in an op shop for $1 for nostalgia, and was surprised how much I still enjoyed it. It was every bit as engrossing as I remembered. If you can get a copy with the original illustrations by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone it really adds to it. Both copies have had these illustrations. They're those old fashioned black and white ink illustrations older books have that I have always loved, and the expressions on the dogs faces are so eloquently drawn, you can actually read their emotions. I find myself constantly looking at the pictures and imagining that moment of the story while I am reading it, and what the dogs (and a couple of cats) are saying to each other.

The way the dogs work together with beyond human capability (lets face it, they manage what the humans could not) is truly impressive. You are left with a lasting respect for all of dogdom. (A Dodie Smith term.)

I would recommend this book to all animal lovers or lovers of a good adventure story that ends happily. It is also unusual in that the animals are the main characters, not the humans, which is still not that common nowadays, so is very refreshing. Some scenes or references may be scary for young children (talk about Cruella de Vil's ancestor being a devil, the evil characters discussion of how to kill and skin the puppies, etc.)

NOTE: Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone are amazing imaginative illustrators. When I looked them up, I realised they had illustrated at least a few of the books that I had read as a child, and these illustrations had really sparked my imagination. If you can find any books with illustrations by them, or even just google them, you will see how wonderful their art is!

Some of their works can be seen on this webpage dedicated to them.

Wikipedia article on Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone

Janet Grahame Johnstone on Bookfinder.com

Review from my blog: http://rosesandvellum.blogspot.com/(less)

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Aug 16, 2011 Tobinsfavorite rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am so thankful my elementary school library had a copy of this book, or I might never have known the movie is a sham! (My kids like the movie. It's OK, but it's not the story.) I just read this with my son, and once he got over it not being just like the movie, he liked it and thought a lot of it was very funny.

One argument some people have concerns the sexism in the book. Well, it is there, right out front. However, having read Smith's "I Capture the Castle", I cannot believe otherwise than t...more

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Feb 23, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audio, middle-grade

Forget everything you know about the 101 Dalmatians via Disney and read Dodie Smith's original novel.
I am not a dog lover and I certainly have a bad track record for reading and enjoying books that are about animals but I was actually pretty charmed by this book.
The characters! So well drawn. Pongo and Missis, the Dearlings, Nanny Butler and Nanny Cook, Perdita and all the wonderful dogs and other animals who make appearances throughout the novel. And of course, Cruella De Vil. All these great...more

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Aug 29, 2010 -k The Lady Critic rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

I had picked this book up on a whim quite a while ago from a Value Village – side note; it’s an amazing place to find used books – and it took me quite a long time to come around to pick it up and read it. As a child I loved the Disney movie (the original, not one of the sequels or the live-action version), and I own a VHS copy of it which I haven’t sat down to watch lately, so a few weeks ago I figured that i would give it a chance and see just how similar the movie was to the book.

It wasn’t t...more

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Apr 05, 2010 Llyana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a really good book, it is also a movie made by walt disney.
It talks about a type of spotted dogs called dalmations and takes place in London. A man name Roger lives with his dog named Pongo. Pongo wanted to find a mate for his "Pet" and one day he finds another dalmation and ultimately wanted to meet her. Her name is Perdita. Pongo brings Roger to the park to meet with his new mate (Anita) and they end up getting married. (So do the dogs)
Later they had 15 puppies, but they thought that o...more

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Jan 21, 2010 Shanna Gonzalez rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-08-12

Pongo and his new wife Missis, along with their two human "pets," are delighted by the arrival of puppies, but their joy is shattered when the puppies mysteriously disappear. The two dogs do some sleuthing to find out where their puppies have gone, and embark on a cross-country adventure to rescue them from the diabolical Cruella de Ville.

There is a genre of 1950's British children's literature, usually populated with animal characters, that is charming and enjoyable for both children and adults...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Phil rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A delightful children's book that I read as a kid (many times) and haven't read since. I decided to read it again to see if it held up and was still fun. It definitely was an entertaining read.

When I was looking it up, I was surprised to see so many Goodreads reviews complaining of sexism or anti-feminine views presented in the book. This was certainly never anything I noticed as a kid, but then, how many kids are clued in to that sort of thing? I found myself reading to enjoy, and also to exami...more A delightful children's book that I read as a kid (many times) and haven't read since. I decided to read it again to see if it held up and was still fun. It definitely was an entertaining read.

When I was looking it up, I was surprised to see so many Goodreads reviews complaining of sexism or anti-feminine views presented in the book. This was certainly never anything I noticed as a kid, but then, how many kids are clued in to that sort of thing? I found myself reading to enjoy, and also to examine, and my findings are that this book is hardly demeaning of women.

To be clear, I mostly focused on gender roles and the differences portrayed between the sexes, and judged the book thereby.

What first caught my attention was the fact that Mr. Dearly was the primary caregiver to the newborn dalmatian puppies (beyond their mother, Missis). He crawls into the cupboard for two days feeding babies constantly while working long distance over the phone. If traditional gender roles were in play, shouldn't this be Mrs. Dearly's job? This is clearly an inversion of the binary. Secondarily, of the two female nannies, Nanny Butler insists on wearing pants after the Dearlys are married, and back when this written, this was hardly the social norm. Again, a seeming inversion of the stereotype.

What I looked at next was the differences between Pongo and Missis. Pongo can understand human speech, can read, and thinks faster and clearer than Missis. On a cursory reading, it does appear that Pongo is presented as superior, and Missis as inferior, but that isn't the case. It is a clearly established conceit throughout the book that dogs differ in intelligence, and in human understanding. It is quite clearly stated that Pongo played with alphabet blocks and volumes of Shakespeare (thus accounting for his English comprehension) and is even referred to as the "keenest mind in all of dogdom" which establishes his special peculiarity in both intelligence and human understanding. If one considers that a dog learns English much as any other non-native English speaker, this lines up exactly with human experience and is not sexist at all. After all, how much English would you learn if the most common word you heard was your name, and the rest was in condescending baby talk? Probably not even as much as Missis. Also, she clearly seems to be personally disinterested: she simply does not bother or care to learn more, which is a personal choice.

Now, one could make a case for sexism based on the fact that it is Pongo to whom these advantages are given and not to Missis, and if all the dominant traits were Pongo's, I would agree with you, but in almost all other cases, the two dogs are equal. They share equal affection and concern for one another. They equally adopt and feel ownership for all of the other dalmatian puppies, they are equal in their strength and determination throughout their desperate journey. In fact, Missis even trumps Pongo when he is injured by the little boy who throws things. She restrains him from acting against the child in anger; she finds the haystack and forces him to rest; she finds the Spaniel and secures food and lodging for them both. Again, if this were clearly sexist, he would be rescuing her instead of the other way around. In this episode, she is the hero, not the male dog.

There is one episode with the Spaniel in which Missis tries to learn her right from her left and ends up horribly confused and unable to get the two straight, and that could be seen as an indication that the female possess less intelligence, but abstract concepts are hard to grasp for someone that isn't introduced to them from a young age. I am a male, and I am an adult, and I frequently have trouble telling my right from my left. This is humiliating to admit, but it is true. I never bothered to learn them when I was a child, and as an adult, the concept is more difficult to grasp. There is clear research showing that much learning is cemented in the early ages, and the brain becomes more rigid after that. I have managed to decrease my ambiguity about right and left, but it has taken practice and focus. In the story, Missis has much more on her mind, and is clearly emotionally stressed about both her husband and her puppies. It is no wonder, then, that during the heat of the moment she simply became frustrated and couldn't grasp the concept. Again, why her and not Pongo? Again, I think this is part of staying consistent to character rather than making a sexist statement about the inferiority of women. If anything, Missis' lack of education is more Mrs. Dearly's fault that her own for not providing her with Shakespeare to chew on, but then while Mr. Dearly is given barely a few sentences to round out his job and life, we are given almost nothing about Mrs. Dearly. This is, after all, a story about the dogs and not their pets, and so there is precious little from which to draw conclusions. In order to remain un-sexist, one does not have to always choose the female over the male, but must show equality and fair treatment. In all, Missis is Pongo's equal in practically every way that matters. I get the feeling that if Pongo chose to teach her, Missis would learn quite aptly.

Lastly, some people got upset about the fact that the one puppy who was obsessed with television was the youngest female puppy, Cadpig, who was also the weakest, and they called this sexist. I disagree. In fact, this lone, apparently weak female made for Dodie Smith (the author) the most important observation of all. The narrator of the story, not necessarily Smith, appears to be religious. The last building in which the puppies take refuge is a church. Cadpig becomes more obsessed with the nativity on display than she ever was with the television. In the end, she concludes that whoever "owned [the church] - someone very kind she was sure" had set out that refuge for them, complete with puppy sized beds. Clearly she is misinterpreting the reality of a church, as only a young, uneducated puppy can (female or male) but the narrator is using her to make a statement about God: the kindest person who looks out for even the most lost and destitute soul, according to most Christian theologies anyway. It is not insignificant, then, that the smallest and weakest character, through her obsession to the television, is the only one to realize the ultimate reality of good triumphing over the "de Vil". To the woman is given the realization of the theme, plot, and message of the entire story.

Sexist? hardly. if it were, it would be Pongo making that realization. There is every indication that he missed the implication entirely.

Actually, for my own part, I thought that having the villain of the story be a woman, the colorful and deliciously evil Cruella de Vil, could possibly be the strongest argument made for sexism. After all, the woman is the evil one! However, as Cruella's cat explains, her husband was no less evil, just weaker, and in that is the deconstruction of the argument: Cruella is the villain because she is much stronger than her husband, who is made out to be a mostly sympathetic character until his true nature is revealed.

Therefore, between Mr. Dearly inverting the nurturing paradigm, Missis heroically saving her husband, Cadpig realizing the moral of the story, and Cruella trumping her husband's strength, this book is not sexist in the least. At least, in my humble opinion. Read it with an open mind, divorcing yourself of pre-conceived ideas and agendas and decide for yourself.

Over all the book was entertaining, amusing, fun, and quite well written for what is essentially a children's novel. As much as I enjoyed it as a kid, I enjoyed it probably just as much as an adult.(less)

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May 15, 2012 ^ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, childrens, fiction, good-to-read-aloud, novel, pre-isbn, review-liked, books-with-10001-to-100000-ratings

The perfect story for teaching children about goodies, baddies, and the power of cooperation and teamwork. This edition is also to be cherished for its copious and beautiful illustrations – and perhaps the longest-necked cat I’ve ever seen (on pg. 137).

Dodie Smith doesn’t only write a very good story; she also takes care to subliminally implant soundly advanced moral teaching into the mind of the reader/listener; for example “… the bad little boy [who had thrown a stone at the puppies] was only...more

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May 18, 2010 Jet rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: female-author, 2010

This was one of the most sexist books I have ever read. Worse, I first read it when I was ten or so and didn't notice the sexism, which means that its ridiculous list of 'male' and 'female' attributes went into my psyche unchallenged.

According to Dodie Smith, men and male dogs are stronger, don't feel the cold, understand both numbers and words better, have a sense of direction, possess deductive powers, are inventive, loyal and brave.

Women and female dogs can't tell their left from their righ...more

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Sep 09, 2007 C.A. Schmidt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book when I was nine or ten years old. And then I read it again and again and again. I think that I could practically recite it by heart by the time I was thirteen. It´s funny and loving and full of courage and kindness (as well as the inimitable Cruella de Vil). It is also full of irony and subtle humor that I only discovered upon reading it to my son . . . If you've only seen the movie, definitely try the book.

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Apr 05, 2012 M rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

SO CUTE. Really, I should read more of these books. It took only a couple of hours to read (reading little parts was my reward book for reading even the tiniest amounts of Economics textbooks) and is just lovely. My main problem with my other escapist novels is that they tend to be rather formulaic trashy YA supernatural/fantasy fiction. It's nice to read something that's sweet and lovely and funny, with cute bits like Mr Dearly being rather rich and living in a nice house after solving the prob...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am in the midst of tracking down books of movies I love and this is one of them. A book I didn't know existed but am glad to have found. The story of The Hundred and One Dalmatians is charming and sweet and looks at the world through the eyes of a dog. Not in depth, but these animals still see the world very human like, less as a dog alone and more dog in a human world.

For those who think they know this story will be surprised at the differences, but some similarities stay the same to the movi...more I am in the midst of tracking down books of movies I love and this is one of them. A book I didn't know existed but am glad to have found. The story of The Hundred and One Dalmatians is charming and sweet and looks at the world through the eyes of a dog. Not in depth, but these animals still see the world very human like, less as a dog alone and more dog in a human world.

For those who think they know this story will be surprised at the differences, but some similarities stay the same to the movie versions. It is a bit odd reading it with preconceptions but you soon forget and embrace the story as its own. As characters the dogs are not that bad. Pongo is a strong dog who loves his 'pet' and his 'wife'. Pongo's wife Missis is a bit daft and a little stupid if anything but she is sweet. I had liked the idea of two strong dogs fighting for their puppies but Missis is too stupid sometimes though for a dog it is understandable, but the way other dogs are portrayed she stands out, though some of the explanations about Pongo and his behaviour as just as farfetched. There is a third dog added into the story, I didn't care for her very much for the most part but by the end she is tolerable and every one has their place.

I did like how close to reality some of this remained. Smith looks at the logistics of traipsing all those dogs across England and knows that for them it isn't going to be a quick trip. She includes potential dangers and how dogs can be limited no matter how much they 'learn'. I am not entirely sure when this was set, but based on its first edition and some references it was before a lot of suburbia took over England and a lot of modern conveniences took over. This makes it very adventurous but being from that era it is adds realism.

A lot of dogs feature in this and each have their own helpful natures that are very dog like. But they are subject to judgement as it certainly doesn't add to the Staffy's reputation, but aside from that a lot of these breeds are true to nature even if a smidge exaggerated.

Smith plays with the reader a bit but in the end it is rewarded and makes a good memory test trying to keep track of everyone but she did well. A decent read and a new experience for someone who likes this story, especially if you are ingrained in the movie versions as I was.
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Sep 03, 2012 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childhood-favourites, childrens-books, read-2010-or-earlier, dogs-dogs-dogs, female-authors, covers-i-love, talking-animals, illustrated-books, belonged-to-dad, inherited-books, pre-isbn-edition, british-fiction, classics, books-i-own, rereads, 2012-rereads, 2012-reads, 5-stars, comfort-reading, brilliant-villain, reviewed, christmas-books

5 Stars!

Now it’s probably worth mentioning before I go into a glowing review that 1) I am a massive dog person – to the extent I haven’t grown out of pointing and going ‘pretty doggy!’ whenever I see one, and 2) I’m not approaching this book fresh but as a reread of one of my childhood favourites. And we should probably throw in a 3) there as well – my copy of the book is a wonderfully illustrated little 1963 hardback which my dad passed onto me, having bought it with his own tenth-birthday mone...more

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About Dodie Smith

Born Dorothy Gladys Smith in Lancashire, England, Dodie Smith was raised in Manchester (her memoir is titled "A Childhood in Manchester"). She was just an infant when her father died, and she grew up fatherless until age 14, when her mother remarried and the family moved to London. There she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and tried for a career as an actress, but with little success...more

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