Posted on by TracyC

Spot Goes to School

Spot

Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill, 1984.

Spot is going to school for the first time. His mother drops him off at the school, where he meets his teacher, Miss Bear.

Spot and his animal friends participate in typical kindergarten activities. They sing a song while their teacher plays the piano (although Spot hides because he can’t sing), and they play dress up in the classroom playhouse.

They play on the playground and show what they brought for show-and-tell. Spot roughhouses with a friend during storytime, and he loves painting pictures with his friends. When school is over, Spot doesn’t even want to go home because he’s had so much fun!

Like other Spot books, this is a lift-the-flap book. It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies), but to be honest, it’s not as much fun to read electronically because you can’t experience the lift-the-flap effect.

Posted on by TracyC

Where’s Spot

Spot

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill, 1980.

This is the first modern lift-the-flap book for children, inspired by the author’s young son, who was playing with some sheets of papers on which he had drawn some concepts for an advertisement. There was an earlier style of lift-the-flap book from the 18th century, but this first book in the Spot the Dog series led to the popularization of modern lift-the-flap books for children.

Spot’s mother, Sally, notices that her puppy hasn’t eaten his dinner. She doesn’t know where he is, so she goes looking for him.

Sally searches for Spot all around their house, looking behind a door, in a closet, inside a clock and piano, under the stairs, and under the bed. In each place, she finds different animals (no explanation, there are just a lot of animals in this house).

Finally, the turtle hiding under the rug suggests that Sally check the basket, which is where she finally finds Spot.

The story is very simple, and the lift-the-flap concept is what really makes it work. The interactive element is fun, as if the readers are participating in a game of hide-and-seek with the characters. Kids enjoy being surprised by the different kinds of animals hiding all over the house. I loved it when I was a kid!

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies), but to be honest, it’s not really a good book to read online because the lift-the-flap effect doesn’t carry over.

Posted on by TracyC

Detective McGruff Sniffs Out a Thief

Detective McGruff Sniffs Out a Thief by Megan Durand, illustrated by John Sullivan, 1983.

Sniffy books, or scratch-and-sniff books, were popular during my early childhood in the 1980s, and they are still being made today. Scratch-and-sniff books are picture books with special patches that release a scent when they’re scratched. Kids like interactive books, so it can be fun for them to scratch a flower or some food in a picture and then smell it. I know from my old books that these scented patches eventually wear out, although I’m amazed that some of them still have a scent more than 30 years after the books were originally made. I had expected that the ones that my brother and I liked and scratched the most would be the ones that would eventually wear out the fasted, but it also depends on the strength of the original scent. The milder, more subtle scents are often more difficult to smell decades later. Scratching a little harder can sometimes help. This picture book is a mystery story, and I thought that it was clever, using the sniffy patches as part of the mystery story.

Mrs. Tabby loves shopping, but she often forgets to pay attention to her purchases while she’s looking at other things. One day, someone steals her shopping bag while she’s trying on hats at a sale. It’s terrible because the bag contained the chocolate cake for her son’s birthday.

Fortunately, Detective McGruff is nearby when Mrs. Tabby realizes that her bag is missing. Unfortunately, finding it isn’t going to be easy because many people are carrying blue shopping bags that look like hers. Mrs. Tabby isn’t sure what to do, but McGruff decides to use his nose to sniff out the correct bag.

McGruff approaches various shoppers and gives their bags a sniff. All of the bags look alike, but readers can scratch and sniff the special patches on each bag and try to guess what they contain before McGruff reveals the truth.

After sniffing several bags, McGruff eventually locates the one that smells like chocolate and finds the cake. But, curing Mrs. Taffy of being forgetful is another matter.

Detective McGruff, or McGruff the Crime Dog, was created in the early 1980s as a mascot for anti-crime messages from U.S. police and law enforcement agencies through the National Crime Prevention Council, including anti-drug messages and information related to the issue of child abduction. Sometimes, police use McGruff costumes when visiting schoolchildren to talk to them about crime.

Posted on by TracyC

The Sleepy Puppy

The Sleepy Puppy by Mary Jo Chamberlin, illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship, 1961.

Johnny’s father brings a new basset hound puppy home to his son. Johnny is excited about his new dog, but the puppy is sound asleep. Johnny’s father tells him that puppies are like small children, that they need sleep and love, and when they grow bigger, they’ll be more active. Johnny has to be patient and let his puppy grow.

The puppy falls asleep in his dinner and on the grass outside when Johnny takes him out to play. The puppy seems to be able to sleep through anything, and Johnny wonders if the dog will ever be able to do more than sleep.

On the Fourth of July, Johnny tries to get his dog to pull a little cart in the pet parade, but Johnny ends up having to pull the cart with his dog on it instead.

Then, one day, Johnny’s puppy wakes Johnny because he wants to play. Suddenly, Johnny’s dog is full of energy, and Johnny can play with him!

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

I loved this book when I was a little kid, and I think it has a good lesson for young children about caring for pets. Animals, especially young ones, do require patience and time to grow, just like human children do. Johnny is bound to also learn that they also require some training once they get active, but there’s time for that, and that’s been the subject of other children’s books.

Posted on by TracyC

Jessica the Blue Streak

Jessica the Blue Streak by Sucie Stevenson, 1989.

Jessica is a six-month-old puppy who has just arrived at her new home. The lady the family bought the dog from warned them to keep Jessica in her crate at night to keep her out of trouble, but the family is confident that they know about dogs.

They already have two dogs, Chelsea and Wolf, and they’re hoping that all three dogs will be friends. Chelsea doesn’t mind Jessica, but Wolf bites the new puppy.

On her first day with the family, Jessica runs wildly through the house, peeing on the floor and grabbing random things to run around with and chew on. She makes messes and eats the cat’s food. Soon, she’s even getting on Chelsea’s nerves.

That night, when they put Jessica in her crate, Jessica howls and cries. What can the family do with this wild puppy?

The story is based on a real dog, Jessica, who was owned by the author’s family, who are all characters in the story. I know from my own experience with my adopted rescue dog that it’s normal for a dog to cry at night in a new home. Puppies are little babies, and like small human children, they need comforting when they’re scared in a new place.

Posted on by TracyC

Clifford Goes to Hollywood

Clifford

Clifford Goes to Hollywood by Norman Bridwell, 1980.

Clifford the big, red dog gets an offer to be in a movie. He passes a screen test where he has to act out different emotions, and he gets the part in the movie, so he has to go to Hollywood to accept the role, while Emily Elizabeth and her parents stay behind.

In Hollywood, Clifford is given a big, fancy doghouse and all sorts of fancy collars to wear.

However, Clifford quickly gets overwhelmed by all of the fans who mob him.

He misses Emily Elizabeth, so he runs back home to be with her.

The idea of someone going to Hollywood and missing friends back home is kind of cliche. Actually, I think the best part of the book was the screen test, where Clifford has to show different emotions. There are many books that demonstrate different types of emotions to kids, and I thought that was a nice addition to this book. The part where they show all the fancy collars that Clifford has to choose from was nice, too, because kids like to make choices, and this page is an opportunity for kids to decide which of the collars they like best.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Clifford's Family

Clifford

Clifford’s Family by Norman Bridwell, 1984.

Emily Elizabeth and her enormous dog, Clifford, were both born in a big city, although they live in a smaller town now. They decide to go back to the city and visit Clifford’s mother, who is still there.

Clifford’s brothers and sisters all live with different people now, so they decide to visit them, too. Clifford’s sister, Claudia, has become a seeing-eye dog.

His brother, Nero, is now a fire rescue dog.

Clifford’s other sister, Bonnie, lives on a farm and herds sheep.

Clifford’s father doesn’t live with his mother. He lives in a house in another town with a lot of children, and he loves playing with them.

Clifford wishes that his family could live together, but he understands that every member of his family has other people who also need them.

I thought that this book did a good job of pointing out some of the jobs that dogs do, like seeing-eye dog, rescue dog, and herding dog. Clifford and his parents are all companions animals, like most pet dogs, but his siblings all have specific jobs to do for their owners.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Clifford's Tricks

Clifford

Clifford’s Tricks by Norman Bridwell, 1969.

A new girl moves next door to Emily Elizabeth. The new girl, Martha, also has a dog, although her dog, Bruno, is a normal-sized dog, unlike Emily Elizabeth’s dog, Clifford.

Martha is competitive and brags that her dog is probably smarter than Clifford. Martha and Emily Elizabeth compare the tricks that their dogs can do, although Clifford’s tricks are different from those of normal dogs. His tricks tend to go wrong or cause problems because of his large size. For example, Bruno can retrieve a newspaper for Martha, but when Clifford tries to do the same thing, he comes back with the whole news stand.

Martha tries to show off Bruno’s bravery by getting him to walk the railing of a bridge, but Bruno doesn’t want to do it because it’s too dangerous. When Martha tries to show Bruno how easy it is, she falls off the bridge into the river. Bruno jumps in to save her and also gets into trouble.

Fortunately, Clifford is big enough to save them both.

Martha is grateful that Clifford saved her and her dog, but each girl still loves her own dog the best.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive. The edition that I have is the older edition of the book with pictures that are mostly black-and-white, except for Clifford, who is red. However, there is also a newer edition with full color pictures.

Posted on by TracyC

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford

Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell, 1963.

Emily Elizabeth introduces readers to her big, red dog, Clifford. Clifford isn’t just big; he’s humongous.

Like other kids, Emily Elizabeth likes to play with her dog, but playing even the usual games of fetch have unpredictable results because of Clifford’s size. When they play hide-and-seek, there aren’t many places where Clifford can hide, and even then, he’s not too difficult to find.

He also requires a lot of food and special accommodations because of his size. His baths aren’t like those of normal-sized dogs.

Clifford’s doggy bag habits, like chasing cars, can be even more unpredictable. Other dogs might chase cars, but Clifford has a real chance of actually catching them.

However, there are good sides to having a big dog. For one thing, bullies never bother Emily Emily Elizabeth.

Emily Elizabeth loves Clifford and wouldn’t trade him for any other dog.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive. The edition that I have is the older edition of the book, but there is also a newer edition with full color pictures.

Posted on by TracyC · 2 Comments

Terror By Night

PFTerrorNight

Terror By Night by Vic Crume, 1971.

This book is part of the Partridge Family book series, based on the The Partridge Family tv show.

Shirley has been thinking that she and her children could use a vacation, and her family band’s manager, Reuben Kinkaid, suggests a place where they could have a little vacation and do some rehearsing.  Reuben arranges for the family to rent a large house with several acres of land attached in a small New England town not far from Salem, Massachusetts.  That should have been their first clue.  That, and the fact that the town’s name is Haunt Port.

At first, the Partridges are just thinking about how they can rehearse without disturbing anyone on such a big place, and Danny and Chris want to try camping out.  However, when they arrive in town, they learn that the name of the house they’ve rented is Witch’s Hollow and that it’s close to a place called Hangman’s Hill.  Soon after the family arrives at the house, Keith and Laurie also find a dummy hanging from a tree with a note that says, “Welcome! The Hangman.”  It’s pretty disturbing, but Keith and Laurie decide to hide the dummy and not scare the others.  They don’t know who is behind this awful joke, but they don’t want to give that person the satisfaction of seeing them react to it.

However, the disturbing things don’t end there.  The family’s dog, Simone disappears.  Also, people in town seem to have a strange attitude toward the house’s cook/housekeeper, Mrs. Judbury, and her daughter, Prudence.  Prudence is sullen and anti-social with a habit of catching toads for fun.  Keith has to admit that he can see how Prudence might have gotten a reputation for being a witch, but there’s more behind the strange happenings at Witch’s Hollow than that.

Simone eventually returns, although it’s clear that she’s frightened and hasn’t been fed well, and Mrs. Judbury tells the family the story of her family’s history in Haunt Port.  One of Mrs. Judbury’s husband’s ancestors was one of the accusers at the Salem witchcraft trials, but later, when people began to realize that they had executed innocent people, some of the accusers themselves found public opinion turning against them.  This ancestor decided to leave Salem and go to Judbury Port (the old name for Haunt Port) because he had family there, but he and his wife were never really accepted there, either.  This man later hanged himself in despair (at the place called Hangman’s Hill), and his wife later died alone, also shunned by the town.  Although some of the townspeople might feel bad about how things ended up with the Judburys, the old uneasy feelings about the family have remained, and Prudence’s stand-offish attitude, combined with her mother’s apparent psychic premonitions, has fueled some of the old stories.

At one point, Keith tells Prudence that he knows why she acts the way she does, because it’s much easier for her to keep her distance from people and behave strangely than it is for her to try to learn to get along with them and make friends.  Prudence isn’t responsible for what the townspeople did in the past, but she isn’t helping things in the present.  Jane Parsons, whose family owns the local store, also helps in a way because she and Prudence are cousins, and Prudence joins her in welcoming a cousin of their and his friend when they visit town.  As Prudence becomes friendlier, she and her mother become allies in trying to figure out the mysteries of Witch’s Hollow, which turn out to have less to do with past wrongs than current crimes.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.