A Dog Called Houdini

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

Returning to his cabin from his traplines in Northern Ontario, Old Man
Raith finds a half-starved puppy. He takes the puppy home, nurses him
back to health, and names him Bubba. When his master dies suddenly,
Bubba realizes he needs to find another source of food and begins
stealing it from under the noses of other dogs.

The local dogcatcher’s attempts to capture Bubba are frustrated at
every turn. The dog’s ability to disappear when cornered earns him a
new name—Houdini. Out of desperation the dogcatcher slips a
tranquilizer into food he sets out for Houdini. A drugged Houdini is hit
by a car, and the dogcatcher’s son hides the dog from his father. He
nurses Houdini back to health and eventually persuades his parents to
let him keep the dog as a pet.

This story suffers from a weak, drawn-out plot and poor character
development. There is a suggestion that the dogcatcher is inclined
toward violence, and his wife and child are afraid of him; his
acceptance of the dog as a family pet is, as a result, totally out of
character. Not recommended.