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Summary
Summary
HOW DID ROSEBUD CHECK OUT FROM HOWLIDAY INN?
The Monroes have gone on vacation, once again leaving Harold, Chester, and Howie at Chateau Bow-Wow, which Chester aptly dubbed "Howliday Inn" during their last stay there. The motley crew of boarders may have changed, but the creepy goings-on at Howliday Inn have not. A ghostly voice, buried bones, and a collar with the name "Rosebud" on it suggest that murder may have been added to the services offered at the kennel.
A pair of yuppie puppies from posh Upper Centerville, two cat burglars (sisters-in-crime) named Felony and Miss Demeanor, a melancholy Great Dane named Hamlet, and a weasel named, well, The Weasel, join the Monroe pets in getting to the bottom of the mysterious happenings. But will they be able to escape the fate that may have befallen Rosebud?
Author Notes
James Howe was born in Oneida, New York on August 2, 1946. He attended Boston University and majored in theater. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as a literary agent. His first book, Bunnicula, was published in 1979. It won several awards including the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and the Nene Award. He is the author of more than 90 books for young readers including the Bunnicula series, the Bunnicula and Friends series, the Tales from the House of Bunnicula series, Pinky and Rex series, and the Sebastian Barth Mystery series. His other works include The Hospital Book , A Night Without Stars, Dew Drop Dead, The Watcher, The Misfits, Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known As Elvis.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Howe here brings back the amusingly articulate cast of animal characters introduced in Bunnicula and later featured in Howliday Inn , The Celery Stalks at Midnight and Nighty-Nightmare . The author generously peppers this caper with his trademark puns and snappy one-liners, which are all the more droll for coming from the mouths of canine narrator Harold, dachshund puppy Howie and quick-thinking Chester the cat. These pets spend the week of their owners' vacation at Chateau Bow-Wow, a boarding kennel where they meet up with Felony and Miss Demeanor, tough-talking ``cat burglars''; Bob and Linda, dogs sporting stylish caps; and Hamlet, a melancholy old Great Dane. Convinced that someone is about to do them in, this wacky menagerie masterminds a mass escape from the kennel and manages to reunite Hamlet with his lonely owner. Howe's fans will find this as scrumptiously silly as his critters' earlier adventures. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
To their chagrin, Chester, Harold, and Howie find themselves en route to Chateau Bow-Wow, the boarding kennel that Chester has named Howliday Inn, while their family goes on vacation. A paranormal experience with some talking bones and a threat to a Great Dane's life convince the group to organize an escape. Readers will enjoy the further adventures of this trio. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-6. In this, the fifth book in Howe's popular Bunnicula series, the vampire bunny is out of the picture, sent off to stay with friends while the Monroes go on vacation. The real action takes place at Chateau Bow-Wow, also known as Howliday Inn (the scene of the second book), where the family boards their cat, Chester, and their dogs, Harold and Howie, for the duration. Harold, the narrator, relates the adventures, which center on Chester's premonitions, a secret code, and a disembodied voice of doom. While the large cast of animal characters can be confusing and the plot doesn't hold together as well as in Bunnicula, readers will find this entertaining fare. The Shakespearean misquotations may go over many kids' heads, but Howe's outrageous puns will not, and fans of the series will agree with Harold's closing statement: "Things were definitely back to paranormal." ~--Carolyn Phelan
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-- Once again the Monroes board their three pets at Chateau Bow Wow, a place their overimaginative cat, Chester, appropriately renamed Howliday Inn. Chester and Harold, a normally sensible but slightly lethargic dog, return to the kennel with trepidation while puppy Howie enthusiastically anticipates a visit to his birthplace. They soon meet the eccentric new residents of the kennel: a sorrowful Great Dane named Hamlet; two yuppie dogs, Bob and Linda; two thuglike cats named Felonie and Miss Demeanor; and a hymn-singing weasel named, appropriately enough, The Weasel. As Hamlet tells of his feared abandonment by his elderly master, they hear ghostly calls for help coming from underground. The animals uncover the remains and spirit of a dog named Rosebud, who tells them of her death in the kennel office and warns them to escape. Few readers will appreciate Howe's many clever puns that often rely on political and literary references, and the plot is thinner and the ending less convincing than previous entries with this cast. However, this book retains their winning components: fast-paced action with an element of mystery; eccentric animal characters (caricatures really); and humorous dialogue. It's an unbeatable combination. --Maggie McEwen, formerly at Coffin Elem . School, Brunswick, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
HOWLIDAY Inn" was what Chester called Chateau Bow-Wow, the boarding kennel where we'd once spent an eventful week -- the very week, in fact, of Howie's birth. "Aside from your being born there," Chester told Howie as the three of us lurched about in the back of the Monroe's station wagon on the way to our -- what had Chester called it again? Oh, yes, our doom -- "the place is nothing but bad vibes. In the space of one week, Howie, one week, there was poisoning, kidnapping, attempted murder, howling in the night -- " "That's not so bad, Pop," Howie said. "Most movies have all that stuff in less than two hours. And you have to pay for it!" "That may be," Chester said, slipping from sight as he lowered himself to the bottom of his carrier, "but this is not a movie, Howie. It's reality." I wanted to remind Howie that Chester's definition of reality was not necessarily a match for Webster's, but I was feeling a little too carsick at the moment to do anything more than groan. I groaned the rest of the way to Chateau Bow-Wow. At first glance, the place looked as I remembered it: a large, creepy house high on a hill with a compound of cages behind it. The compound was surrounded by a tall wooden fence. There was a gate in the fence and a sign on the gate welcoming us. I noticed the sign had been changed. It used to read A SPECIAL BOARDING HOUSE FOR SPECIAL CATS AND DOGS. Now CATS AND DOGS had been replaced by PETS. I wondered at the change. Noticing that change brought other changes to my attention. The house and the cages had been repainted. There were some new shrubs here and there in the compound and the rickety wooden fence had been reinforced by a metal one. Something more than paint and shrubs was different though. I couldn't put my paw on it, but there was something missing. Shortly after the Monroes left, Chester, Howie, and I found ourselves standing in the center of the compound in the midday sun. The air was as still as a puppy who's just chewed a hole in the carpet and hears her master's key in the door. Howie looked around in awe. "So this is where I was born," he said. I followed his gaze as he turned to take it all in. The grassy compound was surrounded on three sides by seemingly empty cages -- I made a mental note to tell Howie that at Chateau Bow-Wow "cages" are called "bungalows" -- behind which stood the wood-and-metal fence. The fourth wall of the compound was actually the back wall of the house with an extension of fence going out from one corner. There was a door in the wall leading into Dr. Greenbriar's office and a gate in the fence leading outside. It was incredibly quiet. "Must be siesta time," Chester quipped. I nodded in agreement. Howie sniffed the air. "Maybe we're the only ones here." That's when it hit me. The big difference in Chateau Bow-Wow was that our friends weren't there. Max, Louise, Georgette, Taxi, Howard and Heather, even crazy Lyle -- they had been what had made Chateau Bow-Wow so, shall we say, unique. I couldn't imagine the place without them. A lump was forming in my throat when all at once I heard a familiar voice call out, "Harold! Chester! And oh, my gosh, is that little Howie?" I turned. There at the door to the office stood Jill, an old friend. She flung her arms open wide and ran toward us, tripping on a tree root. Another girl followed on the first girl's heels. Jill gave me a big hug around the neck as I licked her face. "Do you two know each other?" Howie asked, and he added, "Just a hunch." "This is Jill," I told him. "She works here. Last time, there was another helper, a real clown named Harrison, but I don't think -- " "Oh, it's so good to see you guys," Jill squealed. "I just got to work and Dr. Greenbriar said you were here. I'm his assistant now, isn't that neat? Of course, Harrison...you remember Harrison." Chester rolled his eyes. "Well, Harrison has started his own comic book company, so I've taken his job for the summer. And Daisy helps me." She nodded at the other girl. Daisy looked like a daisy. She had this big, open face and wild, yellow hair. She was also what we pets call a "gusher." "Oooooh," she crooned, grabbing Howie and squeezing him so tight his eyes bulged, "You are SOOO cute. I could just eat you up, little puppy." Howie licked Daisy, which only made her giggle and gush some more. "You're just as cute as the dickens," she said. "How about if I call you Dickens?" "How about if she calls me a cab?" Chester muttered. "I want outta here." Glancing at the fence, I thought, Not much chance of anybody getting out of this place. "Daisy," I heard Jill say then, "I'm afraid you're going to have to put Howie down for now. " "Aw, do I have to?" "'Fraid so. We really need to finish getting the bungalows ready for these guys." Daisy nozzled Howie's nose. "Goodbye, Dickens," she said. "Hug ya later, okay?" She put Howie gently back on the ground and the two girls walked away. Howie couldn't take his eyes off Daisy. "She's cute," he said with a sigh. "Gee, Uncle Harold, is this what they call puppy love?" Before I could answer, Chester shook his head and started to walk away. "Dogs," he muttered. As if on cue, two dogs poked their heads out from behind one of the far bungalows. "Hello!" shouted the smaller one. "I'm Linda!" "And I'm Bob!" shouted the other. "Care to join us for a little barbecue? Excerpted from Return to Howliday Inn by James Howe All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
