Even though we are literally a single-dog family (sorry Mo), tonight was figuratively a three-dog reading night. We fetched two brand new picture books about dogs from the library this week prompting the boys to dig up the timeless Sandra Boynton book, Doggies - A Counting and Barking Book, for our two-year-old.
Parents will find The Hound from the Pound by Jessica Swaim (illus. by Jill McElmurry) a perfect choice for for lil' dudes who love dogs as well as princesses who love pink. Narrated in cavorting rhymed-and-timed verse, the book tells a tale of love at first sight. Miss Mary falls hard for a blue basset hound she finds at the pound. When she quickly discovers she's made "an arf-ul mistake," she is rescued by Sam who saves her dog-day. Kids will love the greyhounds and huskies, dalmations and pugs, sheepdogs and schnauzers, bulldogs and pups (couldn't resist adding a little of my own verse after reading) and the pink poodle-riffic, fairy-tale ending. This book is a blue-ribbon winner in any dog-lovin' house.
A few years ago city officials built an official dog park outside our local library. At the time, I joked to my kids that it was a Bark Park -- also the title of a new book by Karen Gray Ruelle. Children's book authors rarely illustrate their own books, so I knew this one must be something special when I noticed that Ruelle was both writer and illustrator. Ruelle writes in the back of the book how this children's book idea sprang from art she exhibited in SoHo, New York City, comprised of painted and cut-out watercolor dogs, and clay dog puppets ("The Dog Days of Summer") and also from her visits to Tompkins Square Park's dog run in the City. If your child delights in dogs, or dog park visits, he or she will love the rollicking descriptions of the dogs at the Bark Park.
llustrated doggies galore pepper the pages of all three books and will send your little ones running for art supplies and paper. Enjoy.
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