Dog days of summer getting to you?
You know what they say: Every dog has its day. But come the last sultry
weeks of summertime, seems like the canine species gets more than a month!
These four to six weeks from late July through all of August and into early
September have been known as "The Dog Days" since antiquity. The early
Greeks and Romans blamed summer's hottest stretch on the Dog Star, Sirius,
the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, that for more than a
month would rise and shine with the sun-and, they thought, intensify the
sun's heat. So bright that it was visible in the daytime sky, the ancients
considered Sirius (from the ancient Greek for "scorching") to be a beacon
of the changing seasons and a predictor the future-not to mention the cause
of many a maladies.
Not that the ancients were barking up the wrong tree, but
nowadays Sirius rises in the fall and winter. Yet, the term "dog days of
summer" has stuck like a sweaty T-shirt against hot leather bucket seats.
Only now it has more to do with that all-too-familiar 98-in-the-shade daze
or how kids start hangdogging during the last weeks of summer vacation as
back-to-school dread begins to gnaw at them like a teething puppy in a
furniture shop.But letting those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer get the
best of you is like the tail waggin the dog. In our dogged pursuit of
excellence in children's entertainment and educational products, we've dug
up a few titles that are a breed apart in engaging young minds-even during
these doldrum days of August. So, it's not too late to let summer go to the
dogs. Just make sure it's the top dogs like these below.
-Ann and Don Oldenburg
Parents Choice reviewers and the authors of "The Washington DC-Baltimore Dog Lover's Companion" (Foghorn
Press), a guidebook of places to go and things to do with your pooch-from
the doggy perspective!
Movies
Blue's Clues: Rhythm and Blue
Ages 2 - 5 yrs.
Paramount Home
Entertainment, $9.95 (VHS)
Blue continues to charm as she teaches. Young children will be absorbed by
solving Blue’s Clues, asking to see this show over and over again.
Clifford The Big Red Dog: Clifford Saves the
Day! and Clifford's Fluffiest Friend
Ages 3 - 12 yrs.
Scholastic Inc., $19.98
This video comes packed with eight fun, new Clifford episodes including
Fluffed-Up Cleo, Cleo's Fair Share, Two's Company, and Circus Stars.
A Dog of Flanders
Ages 6 - 12 yrs.
Warner Home Video, $19.98
A remake of the original movie made in 1914, the story is about a poor
farm boy named Nello who comes across a near-dead dog in the woods. He
nurses the dog back to health and overtime to two become inseparable. As
their friendship grow, Nello begins pursuing his dream of becoming an
artist.
My Dog Skip
Ages 8 - 14 yrs.
Warner
Home Video, $22.96
Set in the 1940's during World War II, this is a heart-warming story about
nine-year-old Willie Morris, played by Malcolm In the Middle's Frankie
Muniz, who is left alone when his only friend goes off to war. To ease the
void, his parents get him a dog named Skip. Willie and Skip forge a strong
and lasting bond, the kind the words "a boy and his dog" have always meant
in the deepest sense.
Books
A Day, A DogAll Ages
By Gabrielle Vincent
Front Street, $16.95
This astonishing wordless picture book tells the heart-rending story of an
abandoned dog. In remarkable black-and-white pencil drawings, the artist
shows us the dog being heedlessly thrown out of a car, chasing after it
fruitlessly and giving up, at last, unwittingly causing a major highway
accident. Older children and adults in large numbers will be caught up in
this powerful documentary in picture-book form.
Three More Stories You Can Read to the
DogAll Ages
By Sara Swan Miller
Houghton Mifflin Co., $14.00
Any child who has a dog member of the family, as well as those who wish
they had one, will enjoy these canine adventures from daily life: going to
the vet, longing for a friend to play with, and being strong-armed into
taking a bath. It won't take a young human listener long to notice the
resemblances to his or her own daily-life adventures.
Lassie Come-Home
All Ages
By Rosemary Wells, Illustrated by
Susan Jeffers
Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, ISBN: 0-8050-3794-2, $16.95
An unorthodox picture-book text, to be sure, but this sensitive rendition
of Eric Knight's 1938 classic about the much-loved collie that refuses to
be separated from her young master is sure to win a large, latter-day
audience of younger listener/viewers. The book's uplifting message that -
just occasionally - love does conquer all is yet another plus.
Sally Goes to the Beach
Ages 2 - 4 yrs.
By Stephen Huneck
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., $17.95
This handsome, oversized book, illustrated by bold color woodcuts, gives
youngest listener/viewers a dog's-eye view of a summer vacation at the
beach. Sally, a black Labrador, takes a first timer's enthusiastic delight
in the sights, sounds and sensations of a day in the sun, sea and sand.
Sally Goes to the Mountains
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Stephen Huneck
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., ISBN: 0-8109-4485-5, $17.95
Join Sally, our curious black Labrador, on her first camping trip to the
mountains.
I'm Not Going to Chase the Cat
Today
Ages 3 - 7 yrs.
By Jessica Harper
Harper Collins, $15.95
This sprightly cautionary tale in enthusiastic support of the adage "One
good turn deserves another," tells what happens when the family dog awakes
from a nap resolving that he will not chase the cat today. His surprising
change of heart inspires the family cat to decide not to chase the resident
mouse. One act leads humorously into another and before too long, the house
erupts into a giant party. And what kid doesn't like a party?
Hondo & Fabian
Ages 3 - 9 yrs.
By Peter McCarty
Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, ISBN: 0-8050-6352-8,
$16.95
Hondo, an ingratiating dog, and Fabian, a laid-back cat, are friends. No
adult who ever loved a dog-- or cat-- is likely to pass this duo by: they
are irresistible. Nothing world shaking happens to them: Hondo goes to the
beach with Fred, a canine pal; Fabian stays at home where he's harassed by
a child but then has solitary fun unrolling the toilet paper. But it is the
masterful illustrations that are truly a treat in this book.
Dog Tales
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Jennifer Rae
Tricycle Press, $14.95
These re-tellings of classic fairy tales with a doggy twist are great fun.
Some favorites include Jack Russell and the Beanstalk, Cindersmelly, and
Rapawnzul, the star of the story, has very long ears. Jennifer Rae's tales
are great fun and Rose Cowles' dressed-up dog illustrations fit the whimsy
just right.
The Great Poochini
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Gary Clement
Groundwood Books, $15.95
By day, he's Jack, a regular dog who lives in the city. By night, he's
Signor Poochini, the great canine lyric opera singer. Tonight is the
premiere of Dog Giovanni and he will be singing, until he realizes his
usual escape route-the window-is locked! Writer and illustrator Gary
Clement offers a sophisticated setting for a pun-filled, fun-filled
tale.
Bonaparte
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Marsha
Wilson Chall, Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin
Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc., ISBN: 0-7894-2617-X, $16.95
With appealing, richly detailed double-page illustrations in pencil and
watercolor, Bonaparte tells the story of a resourceful French dog who is
determined to find his boy master, Jean Claude, when the latter is shipped
off to school in Paris. Resorting to a variety of droll costumes that will
get him into an educational institution where “NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED”,
Bonaparte, with his dogged determination, eventually gets his way.
Pugdog
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Andrea
U'Ren
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.00
If the adult who reads this appealingly illustrated work to a young child
can accept the unlikely premise that Pugdog's master thinks his new pet is
a boy dog when, in truth, he is a she, author/illustrator U'Ren's
light-hearted frolic delivers an important message. Society treats boys and
girls differently from birth, often imposing gender differences that are
false and constricting. The book is fun, and its moral is one worth
pondering.
Sidney Won't Swim
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Hilde Schuurmans
Charlesbridge, $15.95
Terrified by his teacher's announcement "Don't forget to bring your
swimsuits. Tomorrow is your first swimming lesson!", Sidney proclaims
angrily that "Swimming is the dumbest thing in the world." When he fails in
all his attempts to avoid the lesson, his understanding swimming teacher
allows him to watch from the edge of the pool. Any child who has been in
Sidney's predicament--being scared and being afraid to admit it--will be
riveted by his ordeal and its happy denouement.
The Stray Dog
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By
Marc Simont
Harper Collins Childrens Books, $15.95
As winsome and irresistible a dog to find his way into a picture book in
recent memory, Willy is rescued in the nick of time from the dog warden by
as sympathetic and deserving a family as a listener/reader might hope for.
The prize winning illustrator of almost 100 picture books in his long and
distinguished career, Simont has lost none of his freshness or charm. His
ink and watercolor drawings are a sheer delight.
Boodil, My Dog
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By Pija Lindenbaum
Henry Holt & Company, LLC, ISBN: 0-8050-3940-6, $5.95
Seemingly simple, the story of Boodil, the bullterrier, is actually
complexly ironic. The reader perceives Boodil as lumpish, dithering,
dawdling, obstinate, stubborn, and generally idiosyncratic; the
child-narrator sees him as charming, playful, delightful, and original. So
we have a masterful children's book - humorously painted with exceeding
verve, told deadpan, and introducing young readers to the tricks of complex
narrative.
Martha Blah Blah
Ages 4 - 8 yrs.
By
Susan Meddaugh
Houghton Mifflin Children's Books, ISBN: 0-395-79755-1, $14.95
Meddaugh's exuberant, comic illustrations of Martha, a family dog who
happens to learn how to talk from eating her favorite dish, "Granny's
Alphabet Soup," are just garden variety genius. Instead of barking or
whining, Martha orders steak for dinner in plain English. Everything's fine
until the new owner of the soup company cuts costs by leaving out a few
letters, and Martha, after eating her defective soup, manages only
gibberish - that is, until she discovers a way to get the missing letters
back into every can.
Rover
Ages 4 & Up
By Michael Rosen
Random House/Doubleday, $14.95
In this topsy-turvy picture book, the narrator is a good-natured garrulous
dog who has a pet human being--small girl variety--named Rover. ("She has
very weak claws. Her coat only covers her head.") Seeing the world through
canine eyes both tickles the funny bone and broadens the listener's
perspective.
Because of Winn-Dixie
Ages 8 & Up
By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2, $15.99
Although she lives in the Friendly Corners Trailer Park, ten-year-old Opal
has no friends. She and her preacher father have moved to Naomi Florida for
her father’s new job. Here, on an errand to the local grocery store, Opal
acquires a unique friend, a large brown stray that she names for the store
Winn-Dixie. A totally lovable dog and likable characters are part of this
humorously gentle, warm, enthralling story about all sorts of
friendships.
The Canine Connection: Stories About Dogs and
People
Ages 10 - 14 yrs.
By Betsy Hearne
Simon & Schuster Children's/Margaret K. McElderry, ISBN: 0-689-85258-4,
$15.95
A car thief makes the mistake of choosing a vintage Mercedes - left
running - in the parking lot of a mall. Unbeknownst to the thief, the car
is occupied by Clara's two dogs and her old grandmother. In twelve short
stories, the author writes with insight into dogs and their sometimes
worthy and sometimes not, human companions. The parts the dogs play in the
lives of their people are touching (literally), comforting, and frequently
amazing.
Zulu Dog
Ages 10 - 15 yrs.
By Anton Ferreira
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBN: 0-374-39223-4, $16.00
Gillette, named for his razor-sharp teeth, is a bush dog. Losing his
entire family plus his leg to a leopard, he becomes the beloved, hidden pet
of an eleven-year-old Zulu. Vusi is determined to train Gillette to be a
hunting dog despite the dog's handicap. Set in post-apartheid South Africa,
the training of the Zulu dog, and the relationship of the children help to
enlighten others during a frightening climax. Despite the realistically
presented problems of South Africa, the story is exciting and hopeful.
The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis
and Clark Tribe
Ages 12 & Up
By Roland Smith
Harcourt Brace & Company, ISBN: 0-15-201989-8, $17.00
Born the runt of his litter and gambled away to a rusty old riverman, the
Newfoundland pup Seaman doesn't imagine his life will be marked by any kind
of glory--beyond chasing down rats. But when he meets Captain Meriwether
Lewis, Seaman finds himself on a path that will make history. Part history,
part science, and lots of adventure.
Lions, & Tigers & Whales, Oh My!
Planning a trip to your
local zoo or aquarium? Give your kids a preview of what they'll see and do
with the following animal-inspired books, videos, and music.
Reading to Dogs ... a "Pawsitive"
Experience
Dogs can be ideal reading companions for
many reasons: they listen attentively; they do not judge, laugh or
criticize; they encourage relaxation and lower blood pressure; and reading
to digs is much less intimidating than asking kids to read to their
peers.
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