Little Brown by Marla Frazee

2019 Winner Charlotte Zolotow Award

I am not sure about this book. I do not think I would read it to the younger children at school but I do think it would be a terrific springboard for discussion with older students aged 9+.  The ending is so unresolved and sad. Little Brown is cranky. We don't know why? Perhaps he does not know how to make friends or approach the other dogs. Watching the play and happy times of the other dogs just makes him crankier and crankier. Is this jealousy? When a ball rolls over to his corner of the enclosed yard (perhaps this is a dog shelter/home/pound) he nabs and keeps it and then continues to collect all the other dog toys.

This is a dilemma for the other dogs.  I was pleased to see did not lead to any aggression. I did expect to see the dogs fighting. Instead the other dogs ask important questions:

"Is Little Brown cranky because we don't play with him?"
"Or do we not play with him because he is cranky?"
"Should we play with him to get the stuff back?"
"Or will that make us cranky too?  What then?"

Little Brown himself wonders:

"If I give it all back, will they like me? Then will they play with me? What if I give it all back and they still won't play with me? What then?"

I have labelled this book as a senior picture book because there is so much you could discuss around these questions and the open ending. I think I would call this lesson "What if or What then... ? " Marla Frazee conveys huge emotions in her illustrations. She discusses this on her web site.

 Here are some comments from the Charlotte Zolotow committee:

Little Brown, a cranky (but otherwise unremarkable) brown dog, has no one to play with at the kennel. Is that why he’s cranky? Or do none of the other dogs include him because he's cranky? When he hoards all the other dogs’ toys, what should they do? What should Little Brown do? In Frazee’s superb text, supported by equally fine, soft-hued pencil and gouache illustrations, a dramatic narrative crafted with wonderful language and artful pacing is full of hilariously spot-on dog behavior. But Little Brown’s isolation is heartbreaking, while the puzzlement of the other dogs and the “dilemma” they all face make for a complex look at social dynamics. The brilliant open ending leaves everything up for discussion with young readers and listeners, who no doubt know people like all of the dogs portrayed here. Charlotte Zolotow Award page

The reviewer at Kirkus says:

So when a ball rolls his way and Little Brown grabs it, this looks like the beginning of the end of Little Brown’s isolation and crankiness. But he then decides to grab the other toys, and in a jiffy, he’s collected a whole pile and stands on top of them, like a dragon hoarding treasure. Now there is a “dilemma.” …  Weirdly, this dilemma remains unresolved, leaving readers to continue the pondering: It becomes time to go and “maybe tomorrow / they would know what to do.”  A promising start dissolves to an undetermined, unsatisfying conclusion. Kirkus

In contrast the School Library Journal review says:

An open-ended story that creates a great starting point for meaningful discussion with young children about bullying and inclusion. School Library Journal (from Simon and Schuster publisher)

And here is the Bulletin of the Centre for Children's Books

Frazee interestingly leaves the conclusion open-ended, with no dog managing to break the standoff; that lessens the drama of the ending slightly, but it also offers easy discussion prompts (the dogs' questions could be posed to the audience verbatim) for some empathy-building and social consideration, while the adults can consider larger political symbolism. 

Bulletin of the Centre for Children’s Books