The Little Miss J is obsessed with dogs, which you may or may not have noticed by the abundance of posts that include books with dogs. Given that my nights are spent reading and rereading books that contain dogs, I thought I might share our top ten favorite dog characters in children's picture books.
10. The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren - This is the quintessential book about a dog that you most likely will remember from your own childhood.
9. Clifford! I featured for this post Pumpkin Patch Puppy by Danielle Denega and illustrated by Barry Goldberg. I choose this book in particular in the spirit of fall. We have so many Clifford books in our house! Years ago, at a library book sale, there was a pile of old scholastic books. I purchased the entire pile, and they have found a second home at our house.
8. Marley! If you have read Marley and Me by John Grogan, you will love his adaptations for children's books. We have been giving Trick or Treat, Marley by John Grogan and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey quite a few reads as we lead into Halloween.
7.Biscuit! Biscuit is clearly the favorite at the present moment for the Little Miss. The simple text and multiple places to include dog "woofs" make this book perfect for the youngest of readers. We purchased Biscuit Is Thankful by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Pat Schories when we visited Page after Page Bookstore in Elizabeth City, NC. What a perfect way to teach gratitude as we near Thanksgiving!
6. Rover. If you have never read Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by Jane Dyer, please head straight to your library and borrow it. The rhythm of this book is infectious, and the story is lighthearted and fun. Little Miss J often signs "More" when I get to the end of this book.
5. Harry! Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham is a classic book. Published in 1956, this book remains timeless.
4. Mirabelle! From classic to contemporary, we fell in love with Mirabelle at the Decatur Book Festival this year. Our favorite of the three books about Mirabelle is Mirabelle and the Bouncy Red Ball by Michael Muller. The illustrations are a combination of artwork and actual pictures of Mirabelle, the author's Boston Terrier dog.
Isn't Mirabelle the cutest?
3. Snuggle Puppy! OK, really all Sandra Boynton dogs are big hits in our house! From her book Doggies to Dog Train, we love Sandra Boynton dogs; however if we had to choose a favorite, Snuggle Puppy would win.
2. Big Dog ... Little Dog by P.D. Eastman. P.D. Eastman captures the heart of what a little child loves about dogs in both Big Dog...Little Dog and Go, Dog. Go! A throwback from my childhood, I am thrilled to relive them through my daughter's eyes.
1. Skippyjon Jones! OK, I know what you are thinking, "Skippyjon Jones is a cat!" You are right, but nobody dreams of being a dog more than the dear Skippyjon Jones. Judy Schachner struck gold when she created this lovable and hysterical character. You and your child will be in stitches as you read the adventures of this creative pup, ahem, I mean cat.
What are your favorite books that have dogs in them? Leave a comment below. I am always looking for new books with dogs to read to my toddler.
Ooh! You hit so many of our favorites here, Clifford and Harry and the Pokey Little Puppy. All the ones that first come to mind. I thought I had another one but it turned out to be a cat - Pickles the Firecat. Then there was another one, The Dog Who Thought He was a Boy, by Cora Annett.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about this some more, remembering my son's fascination by dogs. He was just learning to talk, and yet he knew our living dog was the same thing as his stuff animals, and the same as all the 2-dimensional cartoon dogs in books, "woof, woof!" And he knew they were different from a cat. How complex does a toddler's brain have to be to understand that?
ReplyDeleteI love this about kids. My little one can tell something is a dog even though there is hundreds of different types of dogs.
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