Customer Reviews

Dogku

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dog tales are always a big hit with kids. This one combines adorable illustrations, simple text, and a poetry lesson all in one. A great introduction to haiku, along with an explanation of it in the back. Love it!

Dogku is wonderful. I am a dog lover as well as an educator and found this book to be one of my favorites. It helps introduce children to haiku.Praises for Dogku!!!

I bought this book to use in a fourth grade classroom as we begin a unit on Haiku. It is a wonderful story that successfuly uses a new haiku for each page of text. It beautifully captures the life of a stray dog who finds a home but can't quite behave as the family would like him to. Overall this dod is living the good life with his adorable new family.

The illustrations are wonderful! I find myself paging through it just to look at the pictures again and again.

Hmmm, let me see. We have a small and easy to read book. The book is about a loveable dog. The art work is excellent; cute and beautifully executed and then, to top it all off, the entire book is written in a series of Haikus. The author, Andrew Clements has come up with a complete winner and I have to tell you that this is one of my favorite books written for children.

The story line here is simple. A raggedy little terrier dog; a stray who is tired, hungry and very dirty shows up at the back door.

"There on the back steps.
the eyes of a hungry dog.
Will she shut the door?"

Mom is in the kitchen cooking, sees the dog and of course relents.

The little scruffy dog makes himself right at home and almost becomes an instant member of the family.

"Morning brings children.
Hugs, licks, barking, and laughing.
Warmer than sunshine."

All is well...or is it? The family departs, doing things that families do during the day and the new little dog is left alone in the house...alone, alone, alone. What is a puppy to do?

"The house is quiet.
No kids, no mom, and no food.
What's a dog to do?"

Well our little white shaggy ragamuffin does what comes natural for such bright little creatures:

"Chew on dirty socks.
Roll around in a week-old trash.
Ahhh...that's much better."

Good grief, Mooch (That is what the family has named the dog) is in big time trouble. The family holds a meeting. Mooch overhears the work "pound" mentioned. Oh my! Dad departs. Oh my...again!

What will be done?

Like many of the other reviewers here, I cannot think of a better book to introduce the young to the delights of haiku. Each little piece is precise. Each is strict to the 5/7/5 rule. The author says so much with so few words...three lines, 17 syllables and the child learns so much. It is fascinating to watch children use this book. Once they catch on to what is going on you can see them counting the syllables and pondering the words..Inevitably they will then take the next step and start writing their own.

I must confess to you that I am particularly fond of this book as the little dog Mooch is almost identical to my Ivan (Named after Ivan the Terrible) who came to our door some three years ago; ragged, tired, hungry and dirty. He has been my constant companion since.

This is a good book folks...give it a read and expose your children to an art form that will give them a lot of satisfaction for the rest of their lives.

The author has also been kind enough to give a little short haiku lesson at the back of the book

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This book combines charming illustrations with haiku poetry to tell the story of a cute little stray dog and the family who adopts him.

My son, who is a toddler, loved the pictures (he is a dog lover!). The cute, colorful illustrations remind me of the artwork in Cowlick! (Deluxe Golden Book). (For more of Tim Bowers' excellent artwork, check out Fun Dog, Sun Dog.) As far as reading it to a young child, because of the haiku verses it feels a little disjointed and choppy as you read it to a child too young to appreciate the haiku.

However, having said that, I think that this would be wonderful for a little bit older child. What a fun introduction to the art of haiku. Clements even includes an explanation of haiku in the back. "That's what haiku is like...a small container. Choosing a small container can help you pick the perfect words and arrange them just right." He explains that this is why he made it a picture book, because a picture book is also like a small container - "not many pages, not many words."

This is an adorable book!

I actually got this book for my 3.5 year-old daughter and though she is a bit young to grasp the concept of Haiku, the story itself is poignant and captivating. It centers around a stray dog that finds a home with a nice family, and this is told in a series of Haikus. The illustrations are nice yet what I loved most about the book was the haikus themselves. Such a simple form that managed to convey the message of adoption. I'm looking forward to other works by Andrew Clements.

Clever, funny and well-written story of a homeless dog that finds a home with a nice family, written in haiku. My 8 1/2 year old neighbors loved the story. They had just learned about haiku in school and enjoyed reading the story and counting out the number of syllables. The illustrations are first rate, too. Highly recommended.

The first (and only) book my 2yr old will let us read from beginning to end. The short paragraphs and rhythm with warm illustrations are wonderful.

What a wonderful introduction to the haiku form of poetry for children! The pictures highlight the flowing haikus so well. The author uses the form so well, it is inspiring. I wouldn't change a thing.

A wonderful book! Kids will delight in the poetic story, and the illustrations capture the mood and flavor of this loveable dog. What a great tool to use with any age to take a favorite subject and make it a haiku. As with all other Andrew Clements books, he thinks like a kid and writes so they are engaged. Adults who love children's literature will have to surmise he never "grew up" and lost the ability of being a kid.