Customer Reviews

One Small Dog

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

 

 

In the beginning of the school year,I read this book.(I was in fourth grade)
This book is about a boy whose parents are getting a divorse. The boy gets a dog.The boy gets really close to the dog. But one day, the boy drops bacon on the floor, and when the boy trys to take it away from him, the dog bites him so hard, he goes to the hospital. His mom discides to get rid of the dog, and gets sent to a farm. Its sad because the boy say, "I will never have that warm feeling at my feet ever agein," or something like that.

This is the story of a young boy, Curtis, dealing with the recent divorce of his parents. After some serious persuasion on Curtis' part, his mother decides to let him get a dog. After all, how much trouble could one small dog possibly be? Well, Curtis find's out that having a pet requires a lot of responsibility. Curtis learns alot in this story about the love of family. I found this book easy to read. As a teacher, I would suggest it to children struggling with the divorce of their parents. Overall it is a good book, however it is not a page turner.

This is a book about a boy named Curtis and his brother Mitch.
Their mom and dad get a divorce. Curtis really wants a dog and his mom finally gives in. Curtis got a black dog named Sammy and
he loved it and it loved him.They went to his dads apartment and no pets where allowed. So his mom brings them home and Sammy bites everyone,so they wanted to take him back. What will happen
to Curtis and Sammy?

I really enjoyed this book because I love dogs very much. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs. What really made me enjoy this book was when Sammy chewed on Curtis' shoe. Another reason I enjoyed this because dogs are so cute when they are puppies.

This is the story of a young boy, Curtis, dealing with the recent divorce of his parents. After some serious persuasion on Curtis' part, his mother decides to let him get a dog. After all, how much trouble could one small dog possibly be? Well, Curtis find's out that having a pet requires a lot of responsibility. Curtis learns alot in this story about the love of family. I found this book easy to read. As a teacher, I would suggest it to children struggling with the divorce of their parents. Overall it is a good book, however it is not a page turner.

I have to agree that this topic and the sad ending of the story might be of value to specific kids, but in general this book didn't go over well in our house.

As a very sensitive animal lover, my daughter didn't handle the ending well at all. We've read other books by this author that were great, and I'm sorry I trusted that her book would be appropriate for my daughter without reading it first.

This story has a sad ending, with not much to "hope" for, and a couple of pages at the end from a dog handler about how the family made some poor choices. Maybe this moral stuff works for older kids, but not for my 1st grader. Pass on this one if your child has any trouble at all with sad endings.

If you are of the mind that it is in a child's best interest to expose them to as much pain, loss and sadness at as young an age as possible . . . you will LOVE this book. The title, the cute illustrations -- including the adorable cover art -- and the easy reading level (I'd say grade 2) make it irresistable for youngsters. It's the CONTENT that makes it an awful choice.

I should have figured out by now that introducing divorce on the first page doesn't bode well in a children's book. Here is some of the comforting 'wisdom' the mother shares with her 10-yr-old son (p.15) "Divorce is hard, but you'll get used to it in time." Lovely. She continues, "Do you know that half the couples in the United States are getting divorced these days? Still, life goes on." Okay then!

She tries to compensate for the breakup of her son's home by a ridiculous decision to buy a puppy -- in a tiny apartment, and when dad's apartment doesn't allow pets at all. Mom "doesn't like the idea of sneaking Sammy into Dad's apartment building" but lets her son do it, nonetheless. (p54) Does she explain the deceitfulness? That rules should be honored? Nope. Just worries that he's likely to get caught. Son also notices that his Dad "admired how I had managed to sneak him into the building under the nose of the nosy doorman."(p59)

[smaller point: There is also a ridiculous scene (p72) where the young protaganist reads his essay aloud to the class. At the conclusion, his classmates "burst into applause" telling him "you're a real writer" and "I bet you could write a whole book." In what classroom in America might this happen, I would like to know.]

In the end, parents aren't reuniting. Dog has bit everyone in the household (One bite with significant blood-loss & requiring stitches.) and must be given away. Boy's best friend moves out of state. Mom delivers the book's thesis on p106, in speaking to son: "You learned a lot earlier than I did that life doesn't end happily ever after." Like that's a good thing?

Personally, I think kids learn this early enough without having to find literature to drive home the point. And where is the HOPE?? The only offered by the book is the son's noting that, "life isn't over" and "someday" he may get another dog.

Don't get sucked in by the pleasing artwork, and easy reading level. This book is somewhere between heartbreaking and just dismal to a child. (ps. My 2nd grader also wanted me to note that she hated how the author made that cute dog so viscious & ill-behaved.)