From Booklist
This gets off to a promising start: sparkly letters spelling out Moondog on the cover surround the face of a white terrier with small fangs. The story reads like a classic fairy tale: a basket with something inside is left on a doorstep; the dog in the basket is angelic. But one stormy night, the children hear a tremendous hubbub downstairs--and Angel is gone! At this point the story goes slightly off the rails with convoluted explanations. Angel is a moondog (he turns into a werewolf during a full moon), and a mysterious woman named Miss Mingle has kidnapped him so he can drink her stinky potion, which will stop him from developing his werewolf capabilities. Following Toni Morrison's example, Hoffman has chosen to collaborate with her son; 16-year-old Wolfe's contribution isn't clear. Heo's artwork, reminiscent of Maira Kalman's, often heads for the offbeat, but adds lots of fun to the tale. Ilene Cooper
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