– Everything You Need To Know, And Maybe More! –
Praise For Older Books
Author/Illustrator: Anne Vittur Kennedy
Publisher: Candlewick (August 25, 2015)
- Genre: Picture Book
- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Approx Word Count: 447
- Suitable For Ages: 3-7
My Thoughts:
This is a book that will catch your attention the first time through and won’t let go. It’s unusual. It’s humorous. The illustrations . . . well, let me just tell you about it, in case you missed reading it.
Ragweed is a cute, wiry, bouncy farm dog. And he’s pretty confident about his knowledge of life on the farm. In fact, he believes he is smart enough to write a guidebook explaining to other dogs, how to keep up a good appearance while earning lots of dog biscuits.
In his guide, he describes each farm animal’s job.
Here’s the first thing you need to know: The rooster wakes the farmer early in the morning. That’s his job. That’s not your job. Don’t wake the farmer. You will really, really want to wake the farmer … If you DO wake the farmer, you can get a biscuit just to go away.
The reader will quickly see that there’s more to this canine’s sage advice. With each lesson, the reader will learn what not to do, but it is quickly followed up with what will happen if you go ahead and do it. And, surprise. If you proceed you have a very good chance of getting a dog biscuit.
But occasionally the pattern changes.
“If the farmer is away, chase the sheep! No biscuit. It’s just worth it.”
Ragweed, the lovable but naughty dog, is full of advice that will keep you chuckling. You will soon see that his how-to-guide is essentially built around one rule: don’t do anything that’s not your job. But that special rule is always followed up with: but if you do . . . And therein lies the real advice.
Any aspiring farm dog that reads this laugh-out-loud advice, will soon be looking for a book on losing weight.
What Concerned Me:
Nothing at all. This book has remained near the top of my favorites for quite some time.
What I Liked Most:
The illustrations portray this little bouncy, large-eyed dog as so much fun. Just looking at him causes my imagination to run wild, and I have to smile. Then add the text and it explodes into a humorous book the reader is sure to remember for quite some time.
About The Author
Anne Vittur Kennedy started out as a music teacher in public schools, but shifted to illustration in 1982. She has illustrated many children’s books, including the Miss Fox series by Eileen Spinelli and the Pony Scouts series by Catherine Hapka. Anne Vittur Kennedy lives near Columbus, Ohio.
Goodreads
