Doctor Blob, a Bernese Mountain dog, wants to help his human family heal after their mother dies in a car accident.  He wants to make everything right for them by doing things like protecting them at night and finding their shoes in the morning.  One morning he puts a photo of mom in the living room for everyone to see, and this seems to help them.  Doctor Blob is surprised when he sometimes hears a Whoosh and then mom starts speaking to him, giving him advice and admonishing him when he does something wrong.  Doctor Blob feels threatened when a new dog shows up at the house and he tries to get rid of him, but then realizes he was wrong and helps the kids rescue Louie.  

Although this book deals with death and grief, elementary readers will enjoy this book.  It is narrated by Doctor Blob who is funny and honest and at times talks directly to the readers.  Children will relate to Doctor Blob who experiences common emotions such as sadness and jealousy and who also makes mistakes and works to learn from them.

There are a few subtle religious elements to be aware of.  Doctor Blob finds a necklace that belonged to mom and he wears it with his collar.  He doesn’t know the name for it, but many readers will recognize this as an angel.  Heaven is mentioned at the end of the book after the youngest child asks again where his mom is.  Also, when Doctor Blob is explaining what he knows to Louie, he talks about there being a time for everything. “A time to run and a time to walk. A time to plant and a time to harvest.”  These lines are a nod to the well-known passage in Ecclesiastes, from the Old Testament.  These are the only religious references in this book and they aren’t a major part of the story, but something to be aware of when considering it for collections.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library