I'm My Own Dog

I'm My Own Dog
by David Ezra Stein
32 pages; ages 4-8
Candlewick Press, 2014

"I'm my own dog. Nobody owns me. I own myself."

theme: friendship; pets

This is one independent dog. He works all day (like a dog) and when he gets home he fetches his own slippers. He can roll over, play fetch, and take himself for walks. He can even give himself a good scratch...
... except for one spot in the middle of his back that he just can't reach. So when he finds a person to scratch that spot, he adopts the guy. Then he teaches his human all the things a human should know, including how to play fetch.

What I like about this book: I love the point-of-view. And that a dog can teach an old guy new tricks. And the snide comments about human behavior (we're yappy, and messy). But most of all that friendship is a two-way street and based on trust and love.

Beyond the Book: There are hundreds of breeds of dogs. What sort of dogs live in your neighborhood? Our neighbors have a pug whose heart is as big as a lion - and who sometimes thinks he is as big as a lion! He lives with three other dogs and six cats on a farm.

Dogs have great noses - and can sniff out more smells than we can. Here's a short article about their sense of smell. Some dogs put their sniffers to use by serving in the military. Here's an article- and photos - of "dogs of war".

There's no PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) today - but on Jan. 9 we'll catch up over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.