Written from a dad’s perspective, Hot Dog People and Other Bite-Size Sacrifices is a book about parenting. A collection of essays, haikus, fatherly advice and illustrations cover the usual topics parents can expect within the first six years—childbirth, potty training, the anxiety of starting kindergarten, emergency room visits, pyramid schemes, cannibalism and communicating with the dead.
Despite the colorful illustrations and smiling hot dog on the cover, this is not a children’s book. This book, however, is about kids. Specifically, my three boys (Paxton, 7, Colton, 5, and Greyson, 3), their imaginative personalities and off the wall takes on life.
The stories in this book are true and depict the heartfelt chaos of kids that every parent can relate to. The honest and conversational writing serves as a reminder that your toddler isn’t the first to yell “son of a bitch!” in Target and they certainly won’t be the last.
Put the kids to bed, pour yourself a drink, and enjoy.
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
What’s the first thing you see when you walk into a book store?
What cover catches your eye?
Before you pick up that book and turn over to read it’s short summary, you have already taken that first step to buying that book baby. Coming from the art world, I’m captivated heavily by this tactic. Design. This is why I want to combine book reviews with more than just the painstaking written story wrapped within, but also the equally hard work of the Book Cover Designer.
The unsung heroes who make all the Author’s hard work a complete Masterpiece!
The Mother Cover Lover is in & Let’s start this review off right. Let’s judge that Book by it’s Cover People!
Cover Critique
When I first saw Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices I did the hold up, what the heck… is that? A hot dog, cut in face, with its head chopped off, and ketchup for blood. Zoom in the screen and darn skippy it is. Well, needless to say it captured my attention in like zero to three seconds. One, on the basis of the quirky concept. Two, because I had the exact image of an animated movie that came out in 2016, Sausage Party.
Okay, so that sounds so random. Of course, they had their differences. Animated hot dog, real slaughtered hot dog. One’s got the super yellow background, the other a beautiful teal. Fonts. However, the theme of a hot dog on the cover made this subliminal imagery surface. Which is a great thing in my opinion, since I already associated it with humor. So whether intended or not, I say, WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!
The minimalist qualities of the cover are also eye-catching. Hot dog front and center drawing you in like a bull’s eye, an interesting concept, background coloring is complementary and not competing for attention. It all works great together. Also, I have to give props for the cover actually bringing to life one of the stories Dan Magdich’s shares inside. After some covert research, I discovered through Instagram, he’s the designer after all. So taking real aspects of this to make this cover is beyond important to me. Too many times are random photos slapped on a cover that only embody the genre, and don’t take into consideration the actual details of the story.
GREAT FREAKING JOB!
My only critique is the wordage. I love the Font choice, handwritten like a kid did it. The size is the issue for me. On a bookshelf, the cover image would draw me in, but the title should stand out more. Be prominent. Especially for online. Images are made so small. The tiniest images with the most capture impact equal more views or interest. The hot dog can do this, yes. From an artistic point of view, though, I’d like to make the title font pop off the cover. Like there’s already ketchup, where’s the mustard, or even ranch like from the story. I wonder if the title could’ve been made from mustard, squiggled around the hot dog, or even enlarged/different colors like crayons from kids writing on the wall. Perhaps that may of seemed too kiddish, so just enlarge part of the text it in the font chosen and let it be. I could go on with ideas, artist problems, but Dan has a pretty damn long background in design, so I’d assume he wanted more minimalism on the text, however, title text is super important.
Still, I loved the cover and my kids thought it was super awesome as well.
Update: I had the honor of talking to the Dan Magdich, and the font for his title is written by his boys! Can we just have a moment to swoon over this fact and that he incorporated his boys another way for the creation of the cover! Font choice and size solved. I can’t argue with that type of design.
OVERALL BOOK REVIEW
Is there such a thing as love at first laugh?
By the first page, I kid you not, I was busting a laugh all the way through the end of chapter 1. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices ’cause it is not my usual read, but from the first page I loved it.
Have you ever watched those hilarious, jacked-up families or situations on TV shows and been like: yeah, I can so relate. Well, this is exactly what Dan Magdich has done. Every night after tucking my kids in, I got on the Magdich family train and snorted mini laughs until I couldn’t keep my eye’s peeled open anymore.
The short stories he’s pulled together are so on point. Crystal, Dan’s wife, is a complete trooper and saint! I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but the vacuum cleaner incident. Oh my goodness. I never once questioned the situations or what was said in any of the stories with Dan Magdich kids (Paxton, 7, Colton, 5, and Greyson, 3). Being a parent, the weirdness of kids personalities and you can’t believe that just happened is beyond reality.
Point-My kids heard my husband say, “want to have naked phone night?”
First, he didn’t realize he was on speaker. Second, he was joking ’cause I ain’t about to do all that. Seriously. Anyways, the kids spazzed out, screaming, “naked phone night.” Then proceeded to strip down and run naked around the house. You can’t make this crap up. So, yes, Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices is so authentic its the best read than honey butter on toast. Plus, the illustrations and quotes he gives are quite frankly the Chicago toppings on the hot dog.
I completely adored Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices! The stories Dan shares are so understandable if you’re in the parenting phase or have gone through it. There are so many great laughs, but its the depth of love that carries you through every chapter and situation. Highly Recommended, especially if you have, like me, those kids that have fabulous but completely random, super-duper, weird, personalities that make life that more spectacular.
Special Thanks to Dan Magdich for having the confidence to share his amazing family with the world, and to Animal Media Group for publishing this fantastic novel. I received an ARC of Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices! in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of the review.
Let’s be honest here. If it sucked I’d have no problem writing it out.
Want to know more about Dan?
Dan Magdich lives in Coraopolis, PA with his wife (Crystal), their three sons (Paxton 6, Colton 4 and Greyson 2) and a bulldog named Penelope. He’s a Director at the Pittsburgh-based production company Animal Inc., with a background in creative direction, design, illustration and art direction. “Hot People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices” is his first book and features a collection of short stories about raising three boys with unusually imaginative personalities and off the wall takes on life. All the stories are true which make them funny in a terrifying sort of way.
Don’t forget to pre-order your copy today! Click the following links below or anywhere Hotdog People and Other Bitesize Sacrifices are mentioned!!
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