02/19/2016
"Gaston" by Kelly DiPucchio
Copyright: 2014 (40 pages)
Anthropomorphic fiction, realistic fiction

Picture of book cover taken from Google

As an avid dog lover, I find this picture book endearing and fun to read. The illustration is simply adorable, and the story leaves much to be discussed. For example, although there are hints about Gaston being the odd one out, the book didn't mention about anyone in his family finding his behavior weird (although the readers might). However, when Gaston and Antoinette swapped places, we can see from the illustrations how much their new families found their behavior odd. What I like most is when Gaston lines up with the other bulldogs, and Antoinette lines up with the other poodles, the text says: "now it looks right". But then when the families noticed that they prefer to have their mismatched children instead of the 'correct' one, the text says: "now it feels right". And then, there's also this book's summary on Google Books, which read: "a bulldog and a poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances".

The book did not mention how Gaston ended up with the poodle family, and Antoinette with the bulldog family. However, I like to think this book is aiming to talk about adopted or foster children, who may or may not look like their adoptive or foster parents. I happen to know someone who adopted a child from a different racial group myself, and the stories I heard from them showed how little most people accept the idea of a family that doesn't all look like one another. Said people still ask how are my friend related to her daughter, even after they heard the child calling my friend "mommy". In short: I think it's great how we have picture books like this one to shine a spotlight on every different kind of families we have out there.