Dog Story Time and Dog Books for One on One Read Alouds!

I read Poor Louie by Tony Fucile for my preschool story time. The story begins with Poor Louie trying to run away. At one time, Louie, a pampered Chihuahua, led a charmed life. His two owners, a man (Dad) and a woman (Mom), doted on him. Every morning started with a walk. Every evening ended the same way: dinner, a movie, and a kiss good night. On Sundays, Louie and his Dad and Mom would do fun things, such as, go for a stroll in the park, eat ice cream, or go shopping.
But when Mom becomes pregnant, is Louie's idllyic life about to come to an abrupt end? Louie has met other babies and they pull on his ears and squeeze his tummy! When Mom is pregnant, Louie's dinner is served cold and on the floor. One night Mom's belly even kicks him! When Louie sees a baby stroller with two seats he realizes that although he might be able to handle one baby, he certainly couldn't handle two!
That's when he decides to run away, but Grandma makes sure that he doesn't escape. Then Louie's parents come home, show him the baby, and announce, "Louie, meet your baby brother." Louie instantly falls in love with the baby. The book closes with a picture of Louie and the baby in the stroller together. The pictures are absolutely adorable and Louie's facial expressions help to tell the whole story. This would also be a good book for a child who is expecting a baby brother or sister to arrive.

Wag by Patrick McDonnell is the second book that I read in my preschool story time. The story centers on this main question, what makes Earl's tail wag? Mooch tells us that Earl's tail wags for belly rubs, chewy toys, snacky-snacks, and snowflakes. However, at the end of the story we learn what Earl's main motivation for wagging his tail is - love! This picture book with delightful and whimsical illustrations does a wonderful job of introducing the concept of love to younger readers.

The third book that I read, Wag a Tail by Lois Ehlert, tells the story of dogs in a city going to a dog park. The collage style illustrations are beautiful, bold, and attract the reader's attention. These city dogs are "cool and never drool". Big dog breaks a rule and tries to run ahead to the park. But he comes back and the entire pack goes to the park where they "do tricks, pick up sticks, chase squirrels, meet furry girls, and wag their tales".

"Let's Get a Pup! Said Kate by Bob Graham is too long to read during story time. But it makes a delightful one-on-one read aloud. It tells the story of a family who adopts a puppy, Dave, from the animal shelter. While they are there at the animal shelter to adopt Dave, they meet Rosy. Rosy is "old and gray and broad as a table. It was difficult for her to get to her feet, but she stood, it seemed almost politely. Her eyes watered, her ears went back, and she radiated Good Intention." The family keep thinking about Rosy and go back the next day to adopt her. This is a wonderful book about adopting a dog from a shelter.

Shoe Dog by Megan McDonald is also too long to read for story time, but it makes an excellent one-on-one read aloud. Shoe Dog has also been adopted from the animal shelter, but he has a problem adjusting to his new life - he can't stop eating shoes! His owner keeps on getting angrier and angrier until Shoe Dog decides to stop chewing shoes. After all, he doesn't want to go back to the "land of sad puppies, scratched-up cats, and one-eared bunnies". Finally his owner buys him a Shoe Cat! Shoe Cat is a bedroom slip on slipper shaped as a cat. That night, Shoe Dog curls up with his new friend, Shoe Cat.

A Dog Wearing Shoes by Sangmi Ko might be a good book for a story time for older children. It's a bit on the long side. But it makes an absolutely wonderful read-aloud! This book tells the delightful story of a girl who finds a dog wearing yellow boots. She wants to keep him, but her mother says he probably has an owner who is looking for him. After all, he's wearing yellow boots, right? Somebody had to buy those boots for him. The girl takes him to the park and tells him to fetch, but he runs away. She is devasted and realizes how much his owner must be missing him. She puts up signs with his picture and his owner, a girl in a yellow coat, shows up to claim him! After that, she and her mother go to the animal shelter and pick out a dog for her - a dog to be her very own. The pictures in this book really carry the story. They are so expressive and emotional that you could probably successfully read the story as a wordless picture book. At the end of the book, the author provides facts on how to adopt a dog and lists the following websites: aspca.org, humanesociety.org, and petfinder.com.