The rare and elusive first edition cover – most versions these days use art from the Disney films

(18) DODIE SMITH –

101 DALMATIANS (1956)

I mean, you all know it – although probably from the various Disney animated or live-action adaptations rather than the original 1956 children’s novel “about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies” (alternatively titled and serialized as The Great Dog Robbery).

Which is a pity because the novel reads as a classic fantasy quest across the English countryside, with dogs as the protagonists. You know, kind of like The Lord of the Rings – but with dogs. Note to self – write The Lord of the Rings but with dogs.

It’s also a pity because the novel had a 1967 sequel, The Starlight Barking (a title adapted from the Twilight Barking or dog telegraph of the first novel) which hasn’t been adapted (despite film sequels such as 102 Dalmatians) – I haven’t read it but it sounds like it was absolutely tripping balls, going from The Lord of the Rings with dogs to The War of the Worlds with alien dogs..

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)