Tag Archives: Children’s Book Review

Bedtime Stories: Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog

Post by Mark T. Locker.

stick dogStick Dog Wants a Hot Dog by Tom Watson.

Yay! There’s a sequel to Stick Dog! If you are six, you almost certainly agree with me. At any rate, my kid is a big fan of these books so when we (I) discovered Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog we (he) were all over it.

Here’s the thing: these books are starting to seem awfully formulaic. They are funny, and quick to read, but they are kind of predictable at this point. There is a new Stick Dog book that just came out, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza and I think I can tell you the plot based on the plot points of the two other books.

But it’s really not about me. My son is crazy about these books. Five badly-illustrated stray dogs (hence the name of the protagonist) are always on the hunt for the next meal. When they come across the frankfurter cart they know their next target. The author makes sure we know what frankfurters are and explains that if he was talking about a bunch of dogs and hot dogs we might be confused. So frankfurters it is. Stripes, Mutt, Poo-Poo (he’s a poodle, hence his name) and Karen are Stick Dog’s motley (muttley?) crew. As they brainstorm and work their way out of binds and closer to the cart, they must beat the hungry raccoon they’ve named Phyllis, who is also after the franks. Who will be the victor?

Silly drawings and totally harmless funny narration make for delightful bedtime reading for silly kids.

 phyllis

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Bedtime Stories: Stick Dog

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Stick Dog by Tom Watson.

Once, when my kid was sick and being forced to bed rest for a couple days, I perused the library’s downloadable e-books to find something to keep him both immobile and entertained. I happened across a book called Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog which discussed (okay, “discussed” might be a strong word for it) the adventures of a stray dog called Stick Dog and his friends as they try to score a meal of free hot dogs. My son enjoyed the story and it has been a topic of discussion (more appropriate term here, I think) ever since.

WELL let’s fast-forward. He got a Kindle Fire for his birthday and as much as he’d like it to be nothing more than a Minecraft-playing machine, I have strong opinions about this. As a librarian, I cannot let what is loosely termed an e-reader go un e-read. So I have been loading it up with library e-books in a not-so-subtle attempt to show him the other features of his toy. In this process, I came across the book Stick Dog. I had no idea we had jumped right in with the sequel! Furthermore, the whole Stick Dog thing makes a LOT more sense in print than it does in audio format. Apparently the whole point is that the author (or the narrative author, who is a kid) is terrible at drawing. His art teacher disapproves of his stick dogs. So he draws a series of stick dogs, each with different features to prove that they may look terrible, but at least they look different.

This is the premise of the book. Peppered with self-consciously bad illustrations, we are taken on the adventures of Stick Dog and his friends, Poo-Poo (because he’s a poodle, not THAT kind of poo-poo!) Stripes, Mutt, and Karen. I love that one of the dogs is named Karen. It’s dumb, it’s simple, and if you are six, it’s laugh-out-loud funny. Join Karen and Poo-Poo as they seek out the source of those delicious hamburgers!

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Bedtime Stories: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.

Ah, Shel Silvertstein. Few are so multi-talented and appealing to such a wide range of audiences as he is. Was. Known primarily for his children’s poetry and that depressing book, The Giving Tree, Shel also wrote naughty comics for Playboy, did several music albums, and wrote a hilariously wicked book called Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book. Little-known fact: Johnny Cash’s hit song “A Boy Named Sue” was written by Shel Silverstein.

I used to own Where the Sidewalk Ends; in fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve owned it more than once. But now all I have is A Light in the Attic. That is also a great book of poems but not the original. So when I saw it on the shelf at the library, I had to get it. My son loves his poems. We read from A Light in the Attic often and listen to his audio versions a lot. Some of them are accompanied by music which is fantastic. “Twistable, Turnable Man” is particularly catchy. The best part about getting our hands on a copy of this is that I could finally read the poem that complements the picture at the back of all his books of a naked man with a long, long beard.

We read a couple poems each night before bed. Two poems always becomes three or four or ten. I never argue because I am really enjoying revisiting these poems again. They’re funny, kind, naughty, sweet, thoughtful, and shocking. I’m pretty sure Shel was exactly the same.

Pick up a copy today! If you have it and haven’t read it for a while, you should revisit it. If you have read it recently, good for you!

Happy reading!

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Bedtime Stories: Ramona the Brave

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary.

We are simply flying through the chapter books these days! I have a pretty substantial collection, but at this rate we will have gone through them all before the summer is over. I pulled this one off the back of the bottom shelf. It’s a worn old ex-library paperback with a cracked spine and yellowed pages. Which is to say: it’s a classic. So appropriate for my son in so many ways. Beloved spunky younger sister Ramona Quimby is staple of children’s literature. She is also a Portland native entering first grade. My son is a Portland native entering first grade at Beverly Cleary School. It seemed like the perfect book to pick up. Becoming a first grader is a really big deal in our house. We are already being reminded of the stuff he used to do back when he was a Kindergartner (last week). Those were the days!

I love reading Beverly Cleary books. Written in the 1950s-60s, the have a lot of that old-timey feel of a life that simply doesn’t exist anymore. Henry Huggins delivering the evening papers before picking up some horse meat from the butcher to feed his dog Ribsy. Stuff like that. Ramona the Brave focuses on Ramona and on her life with her parents and big sister, Beezus. It’s about growing up and about being a kid. It’s about sudden moments of self-awareness and awareness of the world outside of oneself. There’s a number of books from the world of Klickitat Street in Portland. I think after this one we are going to read a Henry Huggins story. It’s a “boy” story so it will be full of scrappiness and clubhouses and getting dirty. But the Ramona and Beezus ones are great. I recommend you read them all this instant.

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Bedtime Stories: Because of Winn-Dixie

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.

My kid is entering first grade in the fall. I’m suddenly thinking about all the books I read to my class of first graders I supervised years ago. How can he possibly be the same age as them??? They were so big! Well, either way, like it or not, my kiddo is growing up. I don’t think I’m going to run out of books to read to him though!

I read Because of Winn-Dixie to that class of precocious first-graders and they all loved it. So when I saw it on the shelf, I knew exactly what we’d be reading together. If you haven’t read it, Winn-Dixie is just a beautiful story, told in the charming first-person of a young girl named India Opal Buloni, preacher’s daughter and newest resident of Naomi, Florida. On an errand to pick up some groceries from the Winn-Dixie store, Opal encounters a stray dog who is terrorizing the produce department. She quickly claims him as her own and brings her new dog, Winn-Dixie, home to meet the preacher.

Everything that happens that summer happens because of Winn-Dixie. If it wasn’t for him, she would never have met the kindly, nearly blind, old Gloria Dump. She would not have met Otis from the pet store whose music would hold all the animals in rapt attention. And if it weren’t for that old stray, her father might never have pulled his head out of his shell.

Kate DiCamillo manages to write a book that is disarmingly sweet in its story and tone without ever coming across as saccharine or forced. It’s a wonderful book with blessedly short chapters. I recommend it to all.

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