This hilarious picture book, written and illustrated by Nina Laden in 1994, tells the tale of a boy who becomes suspicious of what his dog does at night and decides to follow him. He is shocked as he watches his dog, decked out in a tux, hop into a limo speed away to a swanky downtown nightclub for dogs! The clever story and comical details about the secret life of a seemingly boring pet are exciting and unique.
While the brightly colored pastel illustrations chock full of witty detailing are wonderful, my favorite characteristic of the book is the playful aspect of the text itself. Several words on each page are creatively printed in an artistic way, like the phrase "roll over" printed upside down or the word "eats" depicted with bite marks on it. This provides great opportunities for young children to interact with the book, as they may be able to help "read" along or make connections between the text and illustrations. Stronger readers will be able to appreciate the humor and creativity of the text and will love to look at this book.
Recommended for ages 4 to 8, The Night I Followed the Dog is a book that will entertain both children AND adults. I loved revisiting this childhood favorite of mine!
For more information about Nina Laden and her other works in children's literature, visit www.ninaladen.com.
Happy Reading!
Grace
Nice job, Grace. A colleague at Candlewick Publishers just wrote me the following: The blog looks great -- you should see if your student who reviewed "The
ReplyDeleteNight I Followed the Dog" has read "It's a Secret!" by John Burningham.
They would be interesting to compare.