Dog Days of Summer: No Dogs Allowed!

Sonia Manzano's No Dogs Allowed! is the story of an outing with an extended family who definitely know how to take life's lumps and lemons and make sweet lemonade.

Six-year-old Iris narrates a family day trip from their home in the Bronx to an "enchanted lake" in an "enchanted state park," an expedition which includes seven cars, trailers, her parents Mami the Busy and Papi the Clever, cousins Carmen the Beautiful and Marta the Smart, the wise old people who doggedly continue their domino game (which "they started 100 years ago when they were young in Puerto Rico"), her sister Shorty the Fortune-Teller, a drama queen who always rolls her eyes and proclaims, "I knew this was going to happen!" Oh, and also Iris's lazy dog El Exigente.

After a repairing a car breakdown and getting lost, the crowd arrives, only to discover a tragic sign in the enchanted park's parking lot, "NO DOGS ALLOWED." "I knew it. I knew it! I knew this was going to happen," declaims Shorty, the Fortune-Teller. While everyone laments and dithers, Mami unloads the picnic lunch and dinner, the swim toys, and and the chairs and umbrellas, and the wise old people wisely set up their domino table. Finally, Papi declares that they must take turns staying with El Exigente in the parking lot while they decide what to do.

So El Exigente gets his hair done by Carmen the Beautiful, read to by Marta the Smart, included in the game by the wise old people, and dog-sat in turn by the rest, while the off-dog-duty relatives enjoy the enchanted lake, the park, and put away a plentiful picnic lunch and dinner. By the time dark falls and there is nothing left to eat, El Exigente has had a wonderful day in the parking lot and the rest of the family are tired, sandy, happy, and ready to head for home--just the right way to feel after an enchanted day.

Manzano's portrayal of the large and varied family, each agreeably playing out their assigned roles in the clan, is a delight to watch as the story develops, but John Muth's wonderful illustrations really carry the load in expressing the humor and joy of a family that really works together. This family comes alive in their real individuality and predictability on each page, giving the reader something new to see each time through, right down to the final page which shows Iris and her dog sleeping, heads in the back window of the car whose license plates read THE END.