Ralf

Ralf is a dog, a family pet. To be precise he is a dog with a very long body. Ralf is comfortable in his family though feels quite sad when they get a bit fed up with him, which they do frequently as his extra-long body tends to get in their way. However a long body proves handy when Ralf realises there is an emergency, the house is on fire, the family are inside and he is able to squeeze through the cat flap to try to wake the family and squeeze back out to alert the fire brigade. The trouble is all this squeezing causes Ralf’s already long body to stretch and stretch and STRETCH! So much so that he becomes an escape slide for the trapped family from their bedroom window. Ralf and his long body save the day and he feels loved and appreciated by his family.

This is a stylish debut picturebook from French designer Jean Jullien. An amusing if rather strange story with an appealing character. The book is cleverly designed, open it out and you will see the full length of Ralf’s body proudly displayed in orange on the black background. The end papers are fun too with lots of sausage dogs to count.