AB is a scaredy-cat. She thinks dogs and cats are the bees’ knees from far away but as soon as they get close, she becomes stiff and shakes like a diving board that just lost its diver to the water below. (“He was going to sniff my FOOT!!!!!”) I have no idea where this fear stems from, thought I hope it is just a phase. So I try to mix in books that feature pet dogs, in the hopes that I can ease the process along. (As far as the cats, I say let them eat cake. I’ve never really been a cat person.)
Current Stack:
- Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O’Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Wasserman: AB est folle de Fancy Nancy. (That’s fancy for AB is crazy about Fancy Nancy.) I am crazy for Ms. Preiss Wasserman’s illustrations. (Check out her trio of You Can’t Take a Balloon to the Museum books she did with her sister. Ab fab indeed.) Nancy acquires a new dog named Frenchy, who is not the prim papillon she initially wanted, but the perfect family dog for Nancy and the rest of the Clancys. Jane O’Connor hit the jackpot with Nancy and the emphasis on vocabluary in the series (both French and English) make her even cooler in my book.
- Always in Trouble by Corinne Demas and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones: Emma’s dog Toby is a handful so he is sent to dog training school. This story reminded me of AB as she is an absolute angel at school but switches to wreak havoc mode when she gets home. The illustrations are great too. They have a bit of a Sunday comics feel to them. I loved Emma’s cloud of curls while AB found it hilarious that dogs sometimes pee on carpets and chew on shoes. (“But we don’t do that, Mama, ’cause…’cause…’cause… that’s deesugiting!”)
- Henrietta, there’s no one better by Martine Murray: This one took us a few nights to finish as it is technically a juvenile fiction book. It reminded me of Lauren Child with the use of prints and smattering of different fonts. AB liked to flip through this when we had quiet reading time and I read one of my “grown-up” books. Henrietta is a young’un with quite the imagination. She has a dog name Madge and a baby brother named Albert. She sails to the Island of Rietta in her bathtub (after dropping off Albert in the Land of One Thousand Alberts, of course.)She teaches you how to curse innocently (“Sheezamageeza!” is now up there with “I swear to Bobby!” and “Oh my heavens!”) The best part of all is she teaches you how to become an animal! This is a really fun book that was packed with enough imagination prompts to keep kiddo busy for a long while.
- Imagine Harry by Kate and M. Sarah Klise: Now technically, there is no pet dog in this one but there is an imaginary friend names Harry who could quite possibly be a dog. Little Rabbit has a best friend Harry and they are inseprable. When Little Rabbit starts school and makes a bunch of new friends, Harry thoughtfully fades to the background until he eventually moves away. AB has yet to have an imaginary friend. There was a flirtation with a lion who lived on the ceiling fan but that never really panned out. However, she does have her stuffed cohorts, Abby Cadabby, Dora the Explorer, Princess Jasmine and Froggie (who is apparently the more literary of the group). There have been many occassions when Abby or Dora have been stuffed into her bag onthe way and promptly forgotten the minute she sees her friends at school. It is more about comfort and this book does a great job showing that those (imaginary) friends will always be there when they are needed most. Bonus: Mother Rabbit appears to be a single mom.
Happy Reading!
