The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith -- I've loved the Disney movie based on this book for a long time (even as a small child, anything featuring dogs was a sure winner with me). But somehow I missed out on reading the book until now. I'm sorry not to have read it as a child, because I would have loved it, too. Disney didn't stray too far from the main story in this case, though a few details were altered and a couple of characters were conflated -- for example, in the book Pongo's wife and Perdita are two different dogs! A few bits of the story feel rather dated, particularly the parts featuring Pongo's wife, who's very much the 1950's ideal little woman in canine form, but it's not enough to put me off of the book. If you're a fan of the movie, or of dog stories with happy endings (I think is not too much of a spoiler to say, 101+ dogs and none of them die!), this is a pleasant little read.

(Reviewed from my personally purchased copy.)