Puppy Love

My girl, she is a dog person. I’m not sure where it came from, but she loves her some puppies, and these goodies will be right up here alley – and that of any dog-loving kid you know.

What Puppies Do Best
Laura Numeroff
Chronicle Books
978 0 8118 6601 9

Those of you who know the other books in this series (What Mommies Do Best. Also Daddies, Brothers, Sisters, etc.) will know exactly what to expect here. As with the others, we look at things that puppies can do, and end on the note that they “can give you lots and lots of love.”

These books are sweet, and fun to share, but the real treat is Lynn Munsinger’s illustrations. She’s one of those illustrators who elevates everything she works on, adding funny little details and amusing facial expression that make the book way fun more than the text alone could. On the surface, the text is not so funny, but it lets its partner add the twists, the way a picture book should work. Cute!

A Dog Is A Dog
Stephen Shaskan
Chronicle Books
978 0 8118 7896 8

When is a dog book not a dog book? When the dog is not necessarily exactly a dog… This silly book is full of surprises, and making it very difficult for me to tell you about it without giving away those very surprises that make it such a goofy treat to read.

I can say that kids will love the sudden reveals, even once they know what’s coming, because they are so offbeat, and kids have a keen sense of the absurd, which this really, really is. I can also tell you that the illustrations have a bold, slightly retro style that I really liked for this – anything flashier might have been just too much. Yes, I’m tap-dancing trying not to give much away! But I think your kid will enjoy it, I can tell you that much.

Best In Show
A Trump Card Game
www.laurenceking.com
978 0 85669 901 3

This game reminds me a bit of the card game War in its play – simply, you each take a stack of cards, the person who starts can look at six categories for the dog on their care, and announce the one they think has the best chance of winning, then scores in the category are compared. (So if you have a lab, which scores 100 in ease of training, you are likely to win, but if you have something like a bulldog, you may want to choose another category.) Higher score takes the cards.

It’s a simple game, alright, but also a fun way to compare different dogs on a variety of aspects. for a young child who loves dogs, this makes for a great little gift, and can make for hours of fun. In fact, even for an older person, this is a fun one – I played it for a good half hour or more last night in testing it out. Both kids were sleeping…