He Was There from the Day We Moved in

A classic picture book that combines Edward Gorey’s slightly spooky images with Rhoda Levine’s timeless tale of a dog that wants to be named.

The naming of dogs can be a tricky business, as Ogdon and his big brother discover in this charming collaboration between Rhoda Levine and Edward Gorey. You see, before Ogdon and his family moved to a new house, no one mentioned the big shaggy sheep dog in the back yard, but there he was, just sitting and waiting, imperturbable as can be. Waiting for what? Ogdon wonders. Dinner? A lollipop? A stray cat? Someone to talk to? No, what the dog wants is a name. And not just any name, but the right name. And with a little patience, and a lot of persistence, Ogdon and his brother will figure it out.

Rhoda Levine is an acclaimed director, writer, choreographer, teacher, and the artistic director of Play It By Ear, an improvisational opera group. She is the recipient of the National Institute for Music Theater Award. Her children’s books include He Was There from the Day We Moved In, Three Ladies Beside the Sea, and Arthur, all available from NYRB Kids.

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was born in Chicago. In 1953 Gorey published The Unstrung Harp, the first of his more than one hundred books. In addition to illustrating his own stories, Gorey provided drawings for many books for both children and adults. Of these, New York Review Books has published From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey; The Haunted Looking Glass, a collection of Gorey’s favorite ghost stories; The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells; Men and Gods by Rex Warner; The Unrest-Cure and Other Stories by Saki; and Three Ladies Beside the Sea by Rhoda Levine. He cowrote the NYRB Kids book Fletcher and Zenobia with Victoria Chess.