Gulliver is one pompous pooch in Tor Seidler's spirited fantasy "Gully's Travels." He's a well-groomed Lhasa apso who lives quite a proper life on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. His master, Dr. Rattigan, a professor and gentleman bachelor, regularly walks Gulliver in parks and bundles him off to Paris every summer. In Gulliver's opinion, they live a perfect, highbrow life.
Seidler's adventure pivots on loyalty, one of many human values and foibles he gives Gulliver.
The first crack in Gulliver's perfect façade occurs when Carlos, the doorman, greets him with "Hey, Gully." Grimace. "He doesn't know any better," Gulliver mutters to a visiting schnauzer.
During a trip to Paris, Gulliver's professor concludes a long courtship of the beautiful Madeline de Crecy with a marriage proposal. She accepts. But there's a problem: She's allergic to long-haired dogs.
The professor's solution is to give the Lhasa apso to Carlos. Suddenly Gulliver finds himself in Queens in an uncouth home full of mutts, cheap food and kids. Life here pulses with pizza and chaos. It drives Gulliver nuts. He's sure the professor forgot him or is in trouble.
Gully figures he must escape and rescue his master. His quest develops into an incredible journey on the metro, across the Atlantic to Paris and back. It's harrowing and lonely.
The greatest journey, however, occurs within. By the time Carlos' son retrieves the bedraggled Gully, the little Lhasa apso has had every ounce of precocious stuffing knocked out of him. When the professor's marriage fails, Gully must make a pivotal decision about home.
Seidler is a master storyteller. He writes his romp through ankle-high Manhattan and Paris in short chapters with lots of lively dialogue and suspense. Illustrations on most facing pages are marvelous line drawings by Brock Cole.
"Gully's Travels" is a perfect read-aloud for all ages.
Judy Green can be reached at jgreen@sacbee.com.
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