Fetching Canine Qualities

No two are ever alike.  There are indeed similarities.  Most of them bark, howl, growl, run, enjoy earning treats, have a great deal of intelligence, can read human emotions, and are loaded with loyalty and compassion.  They also portray characteristics uniquely their own.  Some may say it's a coincidence but dogs have a distinctive knack for selecting the perfect human pal.

There is no love like the love between a dog and their human.  Each acknowledges the other's strengths and quirks without reservation.  My Dog Laughs (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, August 21, 2018) written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora (I Hear A Pickle (and Smell, See, Touch, and Taste It, Too!) reveals all those marvelous attributes and activities which makes sharing your days with a dog priceless.

I Meet My Dog

I name my dog.
This is Olivia.  This is River.
And this is Paco, Munchey, Daisy, and Josie.

Other observations when meeting your dog are to notice how much like you they are.  Their fur is the same color as your hair.  Their eyes have the same sparkle as your eyes.

The more you know them, the more you understand their likes; belly rubs and television watching.  When you are gone, they feel like a piece is missing in the puzzle of their lives.  Or

My dog farts a lot.  
P. U.,
Winston!

Everything they do is interwoven into your days and nights creating a prized rhythm.

For some it's more work than for others but your dog craves learning and having a job.  They understand certain necessary things to do; sitting, staying and leaving it.  And even though they are not always as good as gold, they recognize when mistakes are made. 

When you go outside with your dog keep them close.  Proper attire is necessary according to the weather.  You'll have to give your dog plenty of exercise and pick up their messes.  Monitoring their behavior is all part of the going-outside routine.  The best part is playing with your pooch.  They go racing after snowballs, dig enormous holes in the sand and later sit quietly with you, resting.  Everything they do with you spells L. O. V. E.


Cheerful and charming, simple, short sentences and phrases fill six definitive portions of this narrative.  It's obvious  Rachel Isadora knows children and she knows dogs.  When she puts this knowing together, it's sheer magic.  She takes the best part of the relationship between children and dogs and presents it to readers. Here is a passage.

Sometimes my dog 
sleeps in my bed.

Sometimes I sleep
in his bed.

My dog likes to sleep a lot!

My dog dreams!


When you look at the front of the  matching and opened dust jacket and book case, you have to laugh.  Look at that dog!  Rachel Isadora gives us one of those rare, wonderful moments when dogs are experiencing bliss.  The red spine with dog bones goes down the front and along the back.

To the left, on the back, are four small interior images from the book.  Each is captioned as follows:

My dog laughs!
My dog dances!
My dog snuggles!
And best of all, my dog
is always happy to see me!

Hooray for dogs!

Twenty seven different kinds (breeds) of dogs are displayed on the opening and closing endpapers.  All of them are posed to look directly at readers.  On the title page a little girl is standing next to her seated dog that happens to be almost as tall as she is.  Both of them are smiling. Rachel dedicates this book

To Mocha and all her friends.

Mocha is her dog.

Rendered in watercolor and ink all of the illustrations are simply enchanting.  Each delicate line frames the soft, textured colorful hues. Every position and expression on the dogs and the children are sure to generate sighs.  Readers will be unable to resist reaching out to touch the pages. 

Several images are included on each page to enhance the pacing of the text.  Children will see themselves reflected in the children depicted here.  They will also see dogs that look like their dogs.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is the bottom one on a single page.  The sun is close to setting at the end of a day of fun.  It forms a path on the waves of a watery expanse.  Sitting in the sand and facing the sun with their backs to us is a boy and his dog.  Even though the dog is larger than the child, the boy has his left arm across the back of the dog.  Nearby are a pail and a sand shovel.

This book, My Dog Laughs written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora, begins and ends with laughter.  Your smile grows with each page turn.  The essence of dogs and their children is masterfully presented.  This title could be used as an introduction to life with a dog, in a dog-themed unit, as a guide for writing descriptive sentences and phrases or for the joy it brings to readers.  You will want this title on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Rachel Isadora and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior illustration.   (Now go hug your dog or find a friend's dog to hug.)

The Fabulous Five

If you were asked to name your top three favorite things, what would come into your mind first?  Consistently my three are children, books and dogs in equal measure.  I have the deepest affection for them and what they teach me.  For more years than I can remember the trio have been woven into the days of my life, more than once at the same time.

One of the many gifts children and dogs give is their joy for life.  They have an ability to embrace everything they do with their entire being.  All their senses are used in each situation.  It's a total experience for them.  This approach asks adults (me) to slow down and savor the moment.  Rachel Isadora (Caldecott Honor and Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor for Ben's Trumpet) invites us to do the same with her newest title, I Hear a Pickle (and Smell, See, Touch, and Taste It, Too!)(Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House L. L. C., January 12, 2016).

HEAR
Tweet tweet!
I hear the birdie.

Buzz buzz!
I hear the bee.
Uh-oh!

I don't hear the worm.

Six pages are devoted to I HEAR, I SMELL, I SEE and I TOUCH.  I TASTE is given four pages.  Little children from various ethnic backgrounds explore their surroundings with curiosity.  They respond to their discoveries with wonder, delight, frustration, fear, disgust, puzzlement, gratitude and hope.

They walk through the woods or along a sandy beach.  They roam in their homes, make snowmen and play baseball.  They look at food anxious to eat or not sure if they want to eat.  They get colds.  A barnyard harboring a cow or field full of flowers is where they tip toe carefully and find treasures.

Up high or down low sights are revealed.  The shift between light and dark makes a huge difference.  Wishes are made, words are read, a ball is thrown and a balloon is set adrift.  Some little critters can be touched, others cannot.  Textures are felt or avoided.  Accidents happen and a wide circle is given to trouble.

Flavors are favored, spicy, salty, hot, cold and sweet.  You'll never be sure if you like something unless you try it.  Aren't shared treats the best?  Yum!


Simple, short sentences easily understood by younger readers define these children's awareness of their senses.  Rachel Isadora writes as if she is a child hearing, smelling, seeing, touching and tasting each of these things, perhaps for the first time.  The children express a fascination in the commonplace which in my mind is a little bit magical.  Here are several other sentences.

I smell the rain.

I smell the grass!
It's so fresh!

I don't like to smell cow poop.


The liberal use of white space seen on the matching dust jacket and book case is continued throughout the book.  It accentuates the delicate lines in ink and soft shades of watercolor rendered by Rachel Isadora.  A glossy sheen is on the title text, CRUNCH!, the pickle, the jar of pickles and along the pickle-filled spine.  To the left, on the back, are the words

Let's 
celebrate
our
five senses!

On the right each sense is listed as it is on the table of contents page in a vertical column with a tiny interior illustration to the right of the words,

I HEAR
I SMELL
I SEE
I TOUCH
I TASTE

The opening and closing endpapers are in pickle green.  Beneath the words on the title page is the jar of pickles.

On each of the two pages, Isadora has placed four, five, six, seven or eight small images of children enhancing her text.  Their clothing and hair styles are appropriately adorable as are their facial looks and body postures.  They are completely engaged in their activities so they are rarely directly facing the reader.

Each picture looks as though it's been plucked from a living moment.  Each little boy, girl, adult, dog or cat is placed in a complete setting.  When the child does not hear snow, they are standing in front of a snowman amid falling flakes.  A little girl who smells pizza is standing outside a shop gazing through a window at a pizza with the sign JOE'S PIZZA hanging in the window.  Behind her people are walking down the street.  A car is parked by the curb.  When a little boy kneels to smell flowers they are all around him.  A kitten is playfully reaching for two blue butterflies behind him.  Careful readers will notice changes at the top of the pages as the book is read.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of two girls playing with bubbles.  The one on the right is blowing them outward with a jar in one hand and the wand in the other.  To her left the other is standing on her tiptoes reaching to pop them.  A puppy is between them on his/her two back legs trying to catch one.  This scene is marvelously normal but beautiful when depicted by Isadora.


I Hear a Pickle (and Smell, See, Touch, and Taste It, Too!) written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora has convinced me that I need to start a list of books that are huggable.  Readers and listeners will be compelled to do so even before they've heard a single sentence.  Look at the front dust jacket image!  I also predict the entire book will not be finished without readers or listeners thinking of similar experiences or wanting to add other things they hear, smell, see, touch and taste.  You might want to have a huge jar of pickles handy too.

To learn more about the art work and books created by Rachel Isadora please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Her dancer paintings are lovely.  This title was part of a NPR episode, The Children's Bookshelf, on Central Michigan University's station. They have some activities and discussion questions listed at the end.

UPDATE:  February 4, 2016 Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson interviews Rachel Isadora at Kirkus today.