Attempted Bloggery: dogs

Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2026

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #987

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #987 from the issue of April 20, 2026, a pair of dogs look up at giant moon that is in the form of a cat's head. The dog on the right speaks. My submission is below. The drawing is by Christopher Weyant.

"Don't just sit there—howl."

This caption didn't sit well:

"I refuse to see anything but a man in the moon."

May 2, 2026 Update: The Finalists

May 10, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Chicago.

May 23, 2026 Update: The Winner

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Saturday, January 31, 2026

W. B. Park: Two From Bakery Business

Two illustrations from the children's book Bakery Business (1983) by cartoonist W. B. Park were sold on eBay last fall.

This eBay seller, sellallucan, quirkily likes to photograph both the left and right sides of a given original. In this case, where allowance is made for the crease between the pages, that almost makes sense.

According to Park's biography on the book jacket flap, he resided in in Winter Park, Florida. The eBay seller is today located there. Of the many magazines his work appeared in, The New Yorker is, of course, listed first, followed by Smithsonian and Fortune. Surely TV Guide would have been worth a mention here as well.

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended September 25, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126632557218?_skw=

W. B. Park
eBay item description

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended October 3, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116295562231?_skw=

W. B. Park
eBay item description

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Friday, January 9, 2026

Another Signed Copy of They Moved My Bowl by Charles Barsotti

I think we can all agree that any book collecting New Yorker cartoonist Charles Barsotti's dog cartoons is a cause for celebration. The Moved My Bowl, published in 2007, fits the bill. A signed copy was recently offered on eBay, now the second to appear on this blog.

Barsotti boldly signed the book in blue marker on the front free endpaper. It is perhaps not the most perfect signature, the bottom of the last two letters having shifted upwards a bit.

Like the cover cartoon, a number of the drawings take place on psychotherapist's couches.

Barsotti's line is simple, but his humor can be deeply moving, as with the cartoon set in heaven.

As the title page says, the foreword is by Barsotti's fellow New Yorker cartoonist George Booth, who brings a drawing of a cat along to the festivities. Reproduced after that is a 1990 letter from Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, a.k.a. Sparky, which may or may not have set this whole project in motion.

The signature bled through the page a bit.

In 2013, I posted a similar copy of this book after it sold on eBay for $15. This time the asking price was $25—but there was a best offer option.

Charles Barsotti
eBay listing ended January 2, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/277601698683

Charles Barsotti
eBay item description

The eBay seller raised the price from $17.99 to $25.00, then accepted a best offer for $17.50.

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Monday, November 17, 2025

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #968

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #968 from the issue of November 17, 2025, we see a classroom for doggies. The dog teacher lectures holding a globe with a large tennis ball for a sphere. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Kate Isenberg.

"Now, who can tell me which planet is the chewiest?"

November 28, 2025 Update: The Finalists

December 1, 2025 Update: I voted for the caption from Ann Arbor.

December 20, 2025 Update: The Winner

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Saturday, July 26, 2025

Bill and Audrey's Copy of The New Yorker Book of Dog Cartoons

Did I mention that Bill and Audrey were, apparently, friends with New Yorker cartoonist George Booth?

Mike Witte

after Rea Irvin

"To Bill and Audrey!
George Booth."

Title page

Beware! Skittish Dog
George Booth

"Mongrels have it up here."
William Steig

Le Bon Chien
Roz Chast

"First then: the bulk of my estate, excepting certain specific bequest as hereinafter noted, I leave to my true friend and companion, one of God's noblest creatures . . . "
Peter Arno