Read Max's book

Max is a Kooikerhondje who lives with Bas, Femke, Noor and Otto the cat. His book has the cheese drawer, the wheelie bin he fears every Thursday, and where he really sleeps. An example. 9 photos, the answers to the questions, about ten minutes. Yours is made the same way.

• 

  Max
• 

  Max

  2016

  Max

• Max

  2016

  For Max, who makes it his idea.

  Max1

  Breed

  Kooikerhondje

  Born

  2016

  Lives with

  Bas, Femke, Noor and Otto the cat

  Loves

  The cheese drawer and the word 'garden'

  Fears

  The wheelie bin, every Thursday

  Max2

• Whichever Face Is Nearest

  Max doesn't bark. At quarter to six he stands next to the bed and breathes on whichever face is nearest, patiently, until that person gives up and gets up. There is no rush in it, no whining, just that steady breathing until someone moves. Then he walks ahead of them to the kitchen, as if the whole thing, the getting up and the going down, was entirely his own idea.

  Max3

  

  Max4

• The Bin That Follows

  Every Thursday morning, for ten years, the wheelie bin appears at the kerb and Max treats it like a threat that has been building all week. He gives it a wide berth, walking round in a careful arc, and looks back over and over to check that it isn't following him down the street.

  Max5

  

  Max6
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  The face he makes when the cheese drawer opens.

  Max7

  The Cheese Drawer

  It isn't the fridge door that does it. It's the drawer. Max can be asleep two rooms away, but the moment that drawer starts to slide he is there before it's fully open, standing at attention with the exact same look on his face. The word 'garden', said in any sentence at all, works just as fast.

  Max8

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  Max9

  Into the Canal

  Max walked into the canal on the lead, mid-conversation with the neighbour, stepping off the edge as if there would be a floor. Mrs Wieringa said 'oh' and carried on about the hedge; she has known him since he was a puppy. He came out, shook himself over both of them, and carried on walking as if it was part of the route. They walked home wet, and Mr Wieringa had the crust ready at the fence as usual.

  Max10

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  Max11

  

  Max12
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  Max13

  Summer evening, after the ball. His default face.

  Max14
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  Max15

  Where He Really Sleeps

  Officially, Max sleeps in the basket in the hall. Actually he sleeps on the floor under the kitchen table, on the one warm tile above the pipes, waiting for dinner. In winter he moves to the red blanket on the rug, which he pulls off the sofa himself. The basket stays empty, mostly for show.

  Max16

• The Sock Basket

  Max gets away with socks. Only ever one, never a pair, and he doesn't chew them, he collects them in the basket he doesn't sleep in. It started that first winter, when Femke found eleven odd socks in the basket in the hall, the week they had given up looking for them. He had been taking one off the drying rack every morning. On washing day, they still count them back.

  Max17

  

  Max18
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  Max19

  Nobody gets in or out without a check.

  Max20

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  Max21

  

  Max22

• Ten minutes after dinner, the rug, the reading book.

  Max23

  Ten Minutes After Dinner

  Noor started when she was six, with her school reading book, reading to Max ten minutes after dinner on the rug. He lay down that first evening with his head on her leg and has come back every single evening since, the same spot, the same ten minutes. He is usually asleep well before the chapter ends, however good the story is.

  Max24

• Quarter to six still comes early. Max still breathes on the nearest face until someone gives in, still walks ahead to the kitchen as if the idea were his. The cheese drawer still empties him out of a sound sleep. The wheelie bin still isn't trusted. Somewhere there is a sock he hasn't given back yet.

  Max25
  

  One sock at a time, and the basket in the hall still isn't where he sleeps.

  Max26

• This book was made for Max, from the words and photos of the people who love Max.

  bookofmypet.com