Can’t a dog take a pit stop without losing his charge? Normally you’d say yes, but when the dog is Barnabas, and the charge is Little Delirium of the Endless, of course it would happen. Now Barnabas, who is just a small, smart-mouthed dog, has to travel both the waking world and the strange and unlikely realms of her siblings to try and find his princess.
It’s not easy being the puppy protector to the anthropomorphic personification of Delirium, especially when Barnabas keeps seeing a strange and mysterious thing out of the corner of his following his every move.
Every once in a while, you need to read a harmless little children’s book to get the taste all of the not-so great books you’ve read lately out of your head. This fits the bill; it’s sweet, it’s a quick read, and the illustrations make me smile. Jill Thompson has a way of drawing anthropomorphic personifications that make you forget that most of them are either extremely selfish and vindictive, or have personalities that would depress hyenas. (Seriously, who ever thought Despair would be cute, even if it’s in a grumpy gnome-like way?)
But my absolute favorite is Dream; the page with him one that I have been partially tempted to get as a back piece one day, if I was keen enough with needles to sit that long.
(Look at this; isn’t it great?)
The story is also enjoyable; it’s sweet to read about how determined Barnabas is to find Delirium, even if that means dealing with her frankly terrifying (to him) siblings. Is the story very deep? No. But then again this is a children’s picture book, so that is slightly to be expected. And if you know dogs, you can probably guess at what the “strange and mysterious” thing following him is, and how confronting it might aid in his quest.
This would be a great mini-introduction for anyone interested in the Sandman series; though full disclosure, I don’t really like the series on a whole once you get past “The Sound of Her Wings”. If I’m completely honest, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes,
(it has this panel; how could I not?)
this book, The High Cost of Living, and Jill Thompson’s At Death’s Door are pretty much the only Sandman books I really like. Even before everything that happened, I thought Neil Gaiman wasn’t the greatest author.
I would still recommend this though. You get a taste of the Sandman in an adorable package.
