Close Up on "Naughty Mabel"

Having a librarian as a mom spoils my kids in the book department. They have a pretty impressive collection of autographed books from famous authors and illustrators and are often exposed to titles before they hit the shelves. Thanks to last week’s Educator and Librarian Preview at Simon and Schuster, we have added (an autographed!) Naughty Mabel to our bedtime story rotation and Mabel is the new adopted pet in our lives.

Naughty Mabel is the hilarious tale of Mabel, a French bulldog who has a major sense of entitlement that any toddler will easily relate to. It is clearly written with adult readers in mind and this easy read-aloud is sure to make everyone laugh out loud. The pictures truly bring the words to life (and one might even say Mabel has Nathan Lane’s eyes). The message of the book is so sweet and simple that children of all ages will understand and relate to; that your parents love you unconditionally, always. As a parent, Mabel reminds me of the inner budding artist in the toddler that takes a crayon and draws a mural on her bedroom wall and yells “Ta-da!” with a huge smile and sense of innocence that you want to yell at and laugh at simultaneously. Mabel is the reminder to every parent that any mess, no matter how big, can be cleaned up and when all is said and done, we really do love our children no matter what they do.

I had the privilege to hear Mr. Lane speak about this book and how it came to be. Hearing him talk about his own French Bulldog Mabel makes the book even more fun. Knowing that not so far away there is a real dog who spends time in her Hamptons home and loves a spacious black town car truly is entertaining. (This is starting to make you want to be a pet of an award winning actor right?) Dan Krall truly brought Mabel to life with his depiction of a dog living the charmed life. This is sure to be on everyone’s must-read list and you will definitely be looking forward to more of Mabel’s adventures!