Customer Reviews

The Night I Followed the Dog

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those rarities-a book where every single element is well conceived and brilliantly executed. The story is terrific, the illustrations are simply wonderful and event the text gets into the act artistically (the word bite drawn so that there are teeth marks outlining where a chunk of the text is missing, for example).

The story is also hilarious. One night a young man follows his dog-whom he regards as the most boring dog in the world-who's dressed in a tux, jumping into a limo and obviously ready for action. The dogs destination? A club for canines called-what else???--The Doghouse, a place where a fellow can relax and really let his ears down, so to speak.

A whimsical, hilarious book that the entire family can and will enjoy!

How do dogs unwind after a tough day of being the family pet? Why do dogs sleep so much during the day? Find out as one young child follows a hunch and follows his dog out into the night. A hilarious look inside the very secret life of the family pet.

Great illustrations and a fun narrative make this book a favorite at our house.

This was author-illustrator Nina Laden's first book, and for some unknown reason it's the only one of hers we own. That should be remedied soon, but in the meantime, The Night I Followed the Dog has provided enjoyment through multiple readings over the years. There's lots of nice textures in the artwork, and Nina has also inserted graphic elements into the text itself.

This is a fun fantasy and a truly nice story of child-pet friendship. Five paws up!

I love this book for a few reasons. One, it is whimsical and very tongue-in-cheek. The dog's 'life' is a great example of personification and a great lead-in for explaining 'voice' to my students when teaching them the process of writing. It helps them 'see' (due to the unigue style of font use) and 'hear' the dog and its feelings in a very clever way. This book has opened many avenues of creativity for my students and really helps them be better creative writers. I read some of the previous reviews and was a bit surprised at the negative comments. As a teacher, I feel kids should be encouraged to read and read often. The language is not immature and actually introduces some good vocabulary, which gets students looking to find out what they mean and how to use them. I think this book is a must for all elementary school classrooms. I have one in mine and highly recommend it. All my students have loved it and I do, too.

The first time I had ever read this book was when I was about eight years old, when my teacher read it to the class. I fell in love with it, checked out a copy at the local library, and read it non-stop. Even after five years, I still enjoy reading it to this day. It's a hilarous tale about a boy who follows his dog, and sees what he does during the hours of the night. This book is intelligently written, and has fun designs next to the words on every page. The imaginative pictures really add to the book, and really make you wonder...do dogs really have a secret life after we all are in bed? Anyone debating about whether or not to purchase it, it is highly recommended by me. It's a very good investment, and it's definitely one of those books that you will have a hard time growing out of.

This book is brilliantly written. Any kid of all ages would get a chuckle out of this book. Who knows maybe it might be true our dogs go out at night to their own clubs or they might have a doghouse with indoor plumbing and a living room! Well this dog does in this book. He is a owner of his own club were dogs go to at night. One day his owner followed him when he lets him outside at night. He rode his bike all around town following his dog to where ever he goes. I recommend everyone should read this book because its possible it could be true! Wouldn't that be interesting to see. This dog in this story is cool and sly. He does admit to his owner that he thought he would eventually find out.

A young boy always thought his dog was kind of boring. All he ever did was eat and sleep. He couldn't sing or change the TV channels like his neighbor's dog and he never won any medals at obedience school. But all that changed, the night he followed his dog. This boring old dog headed straight for his doghouse, changed into a tuxedo, ran down the street, jumped into a limousine and headed downtown to a nightclub called The Doghouse, a place where dogs can relax, have a few bowls of water and lie on the sofas. It's a place where dogs can be dogs..... Nina Laden has written a charming, funny story of a dog's night out that will delight youngsters with it's witty story line and expressive artwork. Her text, written in the first person, is printed to look like a kid's handwriting and is full of playful picture-like detail (roll-over is upside down, wagging is wiggly and wagging and eat has bites taken out of it) and her illustrations of canines nightclubbing, will have kids and adults alike, laughing out loud. This is a marvelously creative and imaginative picture book that is sure to take your youngsters on a hilarious adventure they shouldn't miss.

If you work around children much, you will know that there is one subject that they seem to be fascinated with and indeed, can talk fore hours about. That subject is their pets and as many kids have dogs and/or cats as pets, the subject of dogs, which this work is about, is a sure fire hit.

This one is a bit different as it not only tells the tale of a little boy's pet dog, but also involves a lot of imagination and fantasy.

The little boy of the story notes one early morning that his faithful pet returns home after being out late, wearing a tuxedo and stepping out of a limousine! Needless to say the young boy feels this is pretty odd, so that night he decides to follow his pet and find out what is going on.

Upon following the dog into the dog house in the backyard, he makes his first discovery...this is no ordinary doghouse!. It is actually a very nice house inside with a bathroom, bedroom closet full of fashionably clothing and many, many luxuries.

Soon, a limo stops and picks the hound up, now fully dressed in yet another of his many tuxedos and drives away. The little boy follows on his bicycle.

After a longish trip he limo pulls up to a building where the dog gets out and enters. When the little boy tries to follow he is met by two bulldog bouncers and in not allowed to enter until his pet dog comes up and tells the guards that "the boy is with me."

Wow, it seem old rover has been running a club exclusively meant for dogs. There is a wonderfully appointed club filled with the most up to date furnishings. The house is packed and more dogs arrive every minute. The place caters to the whims of every dog, bones served on plates, clean water, no leashes, no rolled up news papers...it is truly a wonderful social time for the dogs with talking, dancing and just "hanging out."

The amusing text is of course greatly enhanced by some wonderful illustrations. The dogs are their charming selves and the little boy thoroughly enjoys his evening as his dog's "guest."

Kids love this work and it is the kind of book that you do not mind reading over and over again...as the adult reader. This certainly is not the sort of book that you would choose as a "first reader" as the story is just a bit complex and requires just a smattering of sophistication on the reader's part.

I truly like this book and have yet seen a group of children that did not like it.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Absolutely hysterical. My five year old son LOVES this book.

Great simple story of a "dog's night out!" A whimsical and vividly drawn tale of a boy spying on the nocturnal activities of his pooch, the book will be one to share with multi-generations.

This one should be a children's classic!