Customer Reviews

Good Dog, Carl (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a children's librarian, I, too, am absolutely outraged about this book! I am outraged that so many people have so little ability to separate reality from fantasy. Folks, if this book is causing problems in your home, may I suggest that you also avoid Amelia Bedelia (dumbest maid in the world), "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", ALL the Miss Nelson books, The Stupids and, as your child grows up, toss ALL fantasy novels straight out the window. (Goodbye, Dorothy! Goodbye, Chet Gecko!)

Of course, for all I know, the people worrying about Carl being left alone to mind a baby actually DO inhabit a world where maids actually draw a picture of the bath when asked to draw a bath, it really DOES rain spaghetti, teachers can fool their students with simple disguises, people are as dumb as the Stupids, animals talk and tornados really do carry little girls away over the rainbow. In which case, instead of being outraged, I am either very jealous or very scared.

For everyone else, Carl is a riot to read, cute as can be and your child will have a giggle imagining that a baby and a dog could REALLY get up to that much trouble.

Five years ago, my sister-in-law tried to convince me that a book about a dog - a rottweiler, no less - who babysits when mother goes out was "wonderful". I was skeptical (at best). (Let me get this straight: the mother puts her baby in the crib and tells the DOG to take care of it? Then the mother LEAVES? That's crazy. That's not a good message. It's a Rottweiler? What was the author thinking?) Once I got to READ the book, though, I fell in love too. I must admit that we contributed a couple of Carl books to my niece's growing library that year. Now we are building a Carl collection for our son, and it's a hit. At 2 years old, he loved to have Daddy read this to him. At 3.5, he reads it to anyone who will sit still. His take on the action is a little different than ours, but it is very imaginative!

This is the first of the Carl books. They're all my favorite. I just can't decide. I like to go in order, though. These are not particularly sequential books, but Baby is a little bigger in each book as they go along.

I love the open-ended play we get from this book, so that anyone reading it, including your own Baby, can make up the story. The illustrations are fabulous - the action is what our kids have focused on, and the detail is amusing for the older reader on the 112th time through. I recommend this for any small child, especially the 1yo - 4yo crowd. Give it to some lucky family, or get it for yourself!

Beautiful pictures captivate child and adult alike as they tell the adventures of lovable Carl and his small charge. On this day, Carl's job is simply to babysit for an afternoon. What an afternoon it turns out to be for Carl and the baby! Even non-readers can follow Carl's adventures and begin to cultivate a love for books through this creatively told story. Dogs and young children are a perfect combination. After reading this book, you will think the same about books and young children!

This is a gorgeous book with a very humorous storyline told almost all in pictures (no words). The basic plot is that a dog is left at home to take care of a baby all day, and the dog and baby have adventures in the house (the dog takes good care of the baby). It's a book that parents and children will both enjoy, and it gives the opportunity for the child to tell the story. I like the fact that the story is told entirely without words because it gives the opportunity for parent and child to discuss what's happening in the story. The story itself is very funny, and appealing

Having said that, I must also say that although this is one of my favorite books, it's still been a flop with my 14 month old. I anticipate that sometime soon she will start to enjoy it, but up to this point she has not been interested. I think there are probably a couple of reasons for this. First, the pictures are not colorful enough to grab the attention of a baby, though the dog-and-baby subject is likely to be more attractive to her within the next few months. Secondly, the drawings are pretty detailed - with this book you want to spend a few moments on each page. For a patient toddler that would probably be fine. Mine prefers to be "in charge" of reading and flip through the pages herself, and unless something grabs her attention she flips through the pages quickly and tosses the book.

I hate to discourage anyone from buying this book because I love it so much. I guess my bottom line on this book would be this: you and your child will probably eventually both love this book, and if you are looking at the long haul it's a great investment because it's a great book. If you are buying for a very young child, though (under about 15 mos) and are on a limited budget, you might do better to buy a couple of very colorful books now and then buy this one a little later.

I see some people are giving only a one star rating to this book because they view this "fictitious" book as a "child neglect" story rather than the imaginative, artistic, creative one that it is. ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Parents: LIGHTEN UP! You're taking this book much too literally. Enjoy the concept and the touching illustrations. Let your children, also.

The Carl books are wonderful, including this one. They are funny and fictional, as are most of the children's books I share with my son. We read about singing hippos and dancing dinosaurs and farting dogs, so why not a babysitting Rottie (a very sensible and responsible babysitting Rottie, I might add)?

I wonder if the significant negative response to these books is due largely to the very realistic style of painting which Alexandra Day uses in her illustrations. Would people be so upset if the same story were illustrated with cartoonish neon-colored characters? I love the paintings that illustrate these books; they are beautifully rendered and a nice change from all the flat cartoons in children's books.

Leave so much to the imagination. This could be a different story about Carl and the baby every single time. I can see a glimmer in my toddler's eye and I can tell he's thinking about how fun it would be if one of our dogs would "babysit" him!!

I HAVE THIS BOOK AT HOME I LOVE IT! THIS IS A GREAT GIFR FOR CHILDREN 2,3,4,5 AND UP ITS A BOOK YOU HAVE TO GET, AND AT THE COST OF THIS BOOK(YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK I READ IT TI MY SELF AND I'M 10 YEARS OLD, I LOVE TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES!)YOU CAN'T GET IT CHEAPER ANY WHERE. GET THIS BOOK AND GIVE IT TO SOME ONE YOU LOVE AND THEY WILL LOVE IT TOO. IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK TRY ALL OF THE CARL BOOKS. I HAVE ONE OF THEM BUT I GET SOME FROM THE LIBARY AND I LOVE THEM GET THIS BOOK HURRY YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IS COMMING UP AND TRY TO MAKE A CHILD HAPPY BY GETTING this book. I'M A CHILD MYSELF AND I LOVE ALL OF THE CARL BOOKS. I THINK YOU NEED TO GET THIS FOR A CHILD LIKE ME NOW!

We love this book. All pictures and no words allow a parent to make the book as short or as long as you have time for. My 2 year old just stares at the pictures as I make up a descriptive story to go with the great pictures.

I was introduced to this book while attending college. (My field of study was hearing impaired children). This book is not necessarily a book to be "read" to the child, but one in which the child "reads" to the parents. It helps children of young age and any ability learn language by telling the story to the parents. Each time the child views the story the parent can point out details in the beautifully drawn pictures to help expand the child's language abilities with new words. Telling the story will also help a child's imagination to grow. This book is definitely one to be enjoyed by parents and children together. I personally own all the "Carl" books and can't wait to share them with my young son.