Dog Story Time!

The first book that I read was Excellent Ed by Stacy McAnulty. This is a story of a dog named Ed who lives with all of the Ellis children who are excellent at something. Elaine is an excellent soccer player. The twins, Emily and Elmer, are excellent at math. Edith is an excellent ballerina who can twirl on her toes! Ernie bakes excellent cupcakes that Ed loves to eat! Ed is convinced that if he is excellent at something he will be allowed to eat at the table, ride in the van, sit on the couch, and use the indoor bathroom - just like the rest of the Ellis children!
Ed stops and thinks about what he might be excellent at. Is it breaking stuff? Losing stuff? Forgetting stuff? But Elaine breaks the record for scoring the most soccer goals in a season, Emily and Elmer each lose a tooth, and Edith forgets to be nervous during her audition and dances so well she becomes the new lead ballerina. Ed is despondent. Is he not excellent enough to be part of the Ellis family?
But during the course of a day with the Ellis children, Ed realizes he is excellent at cleaning the floor. Maybe that's why he doesn't eat at the table? Also, he's excellent at welcoming the children home. Maybe that's why he doesn't get to ride in the van? He's an excellent feet warmer. Maybe that's why he doesn't sit on the couch? But why oh why can't he use the indoor bathroom? This story is both sweet and funny with very expressive illustrations. It can also be interactive by asking the children what Ed is doing throughout the story. They love to answer the questions!

The second story that I read was Please, Puppy, Please by Spike and Tonya Lee. This delightful story follows the actions of a puppy and the children who love him during a typical day. Will the puppy go outside? "Let's go play, puppy, puppy, puppy, please." The puppy runs through the gate, to the flowers, rolls in the mud, takes a bath, jumps out of the bath, shakes water all over the cat, and fetches the ball. All throughout the story, the children are begging the puppy to do or not to do something with the refrain, "puppy, puppy, please, puppy." The children loved this story and they enjoyed answering questions about what the puppy was doing. Kadir Nelson's amazing illustrations add to the beauty of this book.

The last story that I read was Frankie, written and illustrated by Mary Sullivan. This story was inspired by a real puppy named Frankie who came to live with the author and her dog, Nico, until she found her forever home. She came from the Austin Pets Alive shelter. When Frankie comes home to live with Mary she is so excited! She finds Nico's ball, bone, puppy, rope, blankie, and bed. Nico lets her know in no uncertain terms that those items belong to Nico! Back off! But Frankie is creative and ingenious. A ball of yarn becomes Frankie's ball, a toilet paper roll becomes Frankie's bone, a stuffed shark becomes Frankie's puppy, a red sock becomes Frankie's rope, a towel becomes Frankie's blanket, and a cardboard box becomes Frankie's bed. The children enjoyed identifying Frankie's belongings. But Frankie is in for a wonderful surprise - Mary comes home with a ball, bone, puppy, frog, log, rope, blankie, and bed for Frankie! The story ends with Nico playing with Frankie's frog and Frankie playing with Nico's ball.
Other great stories about dogs!

Circle Dogs by Kevin Henkes

Mutt Dog! by Stephen Michael King

I will love you anyway by Mike Inkpen

Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer