Cindy Lou and the Witch's Dog

Jack Kent's Cindy Lou and the Witch's Dog
Jack Kent ~ Random House, 1978

I LOVE THIS BOOK! Here was have an ingeniously told story, set in comic strip-style to hugely comic effect. Meet Cindy Lou, who meets a frog (Prince), who then meets the witch who owns the frog... only the frog isn't a frog, he's really a dog. A dog with hiccups, and not just any hiccups...

Witch: He likes you. Will you take care of Prince for me a little while? I'm going to a party.

Cindy Lou: I'd be glad to.

Prince: HIC (He turns into a giraffe.)

Cindy Lou: H-h-he turned into a giraffe!

Prince: ARF

Witch: He's liable to turn into almost anything. When I brew magic spells I often spill some. Prince has licked up so many spells his system is full of them.

Prince: HIC (He turns back into a dog.)

Witch: Whenever he hiccups he turns into something else.

You won't believe how absurd this story gets. At one point, the dog turns into a cat and ends up winning first prize in a cat show. You can imagine the chaos when his hiccups return. There's a shot where all the kitties pour into the street and climb the nearest tree... super silly. (How cute is that little guy hanging from the bottom limb?)

All of it drives my son insane with laughter, not to mention it tickles me pretty pink. I love the panels where the dog turns into a bird and Cindy Lou flies on its back only to have it hiccup and turn back into a dog. The timing is impeccable, and the look on Cindy Lou's face is beyond priceless.

I've never seen this particular joke done before anywhere, but it must've been because it's so perfect. The execution here is flawless. Jack used the same bit in a King Aroo panel once, so I'm wondering if the idea originated with him. Every twist is followed by another crowning twist (elephant, dove, lion) until Cindy Lou finally cures Prince of his hiccups. Unfortunately... he ends up getting a cold. Ha!

Also by:
Jack Kent's Twelve Days of Christmas
I Was Walking Down the Road
The Grown-Up Day
The Fox and the Crow
The Biggest Shadow in the Zoo
The Animobile Book
Jack Kent's Book of Nursery Tales
Dooly and the Snortsnoot
Mr. Meebles
Cindy Lou and the Witch's Dog
Clotilda
The Blah
Jack Kent's Valentine Sticker Book
The Bremen-town Musicians
Round Robin
Just Only John
Fly Away Home
Fat Cat
Piggy Bank Gonzales
Socks for Supper

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