Mr. Blank and Nerves

One of my favorite children's writers, outside Joan Aiken, William Mayne, and L.M. Boston is  Canadian writer Brian Doyle.  There's an odd tall tale humor to his writing that's deeply effective.  Set in 1948 Ottawa, listen to how he creates Mr. Blank and the dog Nerves:

     Mr. Blank hated Nerves.  He hated to come home from work after a
tiring day and as soon as he walked in the door have Nerves there, imi-
tating him.
     "Why can't I have a normal dog?" Mr. Blank would say to Mrs.
Blank.  "I hate this dog.  Look at him.  He's making fun of me.  Nerves!  Be
yourself!  Develop a personality of your own!  Leave me out of it!"
      And Nerves would glare right back at him, doing a perfect imitation
of him.
     Then Mr. Blank would sit down with the paper in his chair and let
out a big sigh and Nerves would get on the other chair and sigh too.  A
rat's sigh.
     And after a while Mr. Blank would look up over his paper and say,
"I hate you, Nerves."
     And Nerves would show him his little teeth.
     And sometimes when Mr. Blank would try to kiss Mrs. Blank or
cuddle up to her while she was making the supper, Nerves would be right
there with them with his front paws around Mr. Blank's leg, kissing Mr.
Blank's pants with his ratty little tongue. 
     And then maybe Mr. Blank, just so that he could relax and eat his
supper in peace, would put Nerves outside.  Then he'd sit down and start
to eat and he'd lift up his fork with the spaghetti hanging from it and
the fork would stop right about at his open mouth because he'd sud-
denly see Nerves, outside, staring at him through the window, licking
his rodenty little chops and nodding his head as if he were saying,
"Good eh?  Is it good?  Is it?  Is it good?  Go ahead.  Eat it.  It's good!  Is
it good?"
     "I hate that dog," Mr. Blank would say, "I want to take it to the
Humane Society and have it executed."
     "Oh, don't by silly dear," Mrs. Blank would say, "It's only a little dog."
     Nerves was almost like a mirror.

Brian Doyle, The Low Life:  Five Great Tales from Up and Down the River - Easy Avenue (1988), page 190.

For a great collection of tales, get The Low Life.