Parkin's Book is A Dog in a Hat
583958
I won't spoil the metaphor for you, because you need to read this book. I am a cyclist, but as other reviewers have pointed out, you do not need to be a cyclist to absolutely love this book.

Parkin lived "the dream" of being a pro rider, insomuch as saying that the dream, like many others, can eat you alive. Parkin started young, like all great cyclists, and this book proves out how tough it is to make it as a pro. Don't kid yourself if you have never raced bikes: it is ridiculous the amount of abuse that goes into making it to even a Cat3 rider. Joe's story pushes past all of that and simply gives you the feeling he is sitting next to you, telling you stories. I am grateful for it. Too many other books try to flower up the sport, or spin the sport into something evil, while very few are just what this book is: a racers story.

If you are not into cycling, you can read this as a memoir, or a bit of anecdotal storytelling, but the beauty of the book is that you can read it that way as a cyclist also.
1584189
"Not My Dog"
by Colby Rodowsky
(Farrar, Strauss Giroux, 1999)
-----------------------------------------
A sweet, well-measured book about a young girl named Ellie who has long dreamt of getting a cuddly little puppy, but is upset when her parents bring home an older, scruffier rescue dog instead. Ellie sulks and refuses to call the poor pooch "her" dog, even as she is slowly won over and comes to love him as much as she would have loved a pup. The writing is nice, as the language subtly shifts from chapter to chapter, reflecting the changes in Ellie's attitude towards the new dog. A nice, quiet book about pet ownership and adoption.  Recommended.  (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
1742941
I'm still reading it but it's great...Love the fact that we're getting a dog's eye view of life... good and bad.
94213
Reviewed by Sophia McElroy (age 5.5) for Reader Views (7/08)

This book is about a puppy named Slippers. He doesn't like to take naps. But he gets in a lot of trouble; he didn't help. When he goes in his doghouse he first closes one eye and then the other eye because he doesn't want to fall asleep.

My favorite part of the book was when Slippers went outside to help Mommy. He wasn't helping; he was digging up the garden! I like the pictures in this book they are cute. This book made me really happy, it is so funny. It was easy to read for me.

Parent Comment:
I immediately fell in love with this little puppy Slippers. The illustrations are precious and the story is really creatively told. This isn't your average dog tale. My daughter openly laughed and giggled at the trouble this little guy was finding in "Naptime for Slippers" by Andrew Clements.

Book received free of charge.
98287
I am still reading the book and I like it alot.  I love stories about pets since I have quite a few of my own
2368491
Written by a new American writer, this book tells the tale of Omar Blue a Blue Doberman and his pack.

When Omar Blue decides to settle down, he picks a place and names it K-9 Town, U.S.A.

With his best friend Major Diggs, a Lab-Dalmatian cross and the pack of about 50 assorted breeds of dog they build a community with true pack spirit, teaching their puppies right from wrong, protecting each other and building relationships.

This book, cleverly written in rhyme, is so easy to read, and each chapter teaches different values to its readers, through the adventures of the various dogs.

As a dog lover it was great for me to see the different characters, and traits of the various breed types portrayed in the stories.

I can't wait to read book 2, "Led By An Eagle," which has recently been released on Kindle Ebooks.
2138591
Children's Book - Fancy Hat by Tael Aharoni is an educational book of morals. It's interesting and there's an important life lesson for everyone here. Recommend!:)
3683784
This book was a gift for my greatgrandson and his mother reports that he loves it.  The story explores all the things that can happen if you "give a dog a donut."  It's a sturdy book with lots of colorful illustrations and makes a perfect gift.  He is four years old and thoroughly enjoys this imaginative book.
2848377
I received this book from Bostick Communications for review purposes, but I requested it because of my children and especially my daughter's love of dogs. I really thought it was a book she would enjoy reading and that I would enjoy sharing with her and I was not wrong.

Bailey is owned by a mail carrier in Arizona. Every day when her owner, or dad as she refers to him, goes to work she and her neighbor Frankie (who is a Dachshund who looks like a hot dog, thus the name) go exploring. They swim in the pool, eat tacos from a traveling vendor (in what we used to refer to in Las Vegas a a Roach Coach), see wild animals at the wash and then try to get home before her owner.

A nice touch at the end of this book was the photos of the authors own dog of the same name. It added something to the story to see that he wrote it about and for his own pet.

My husband and I lived for a number of years in Nevada and were dog owners. I recall writing my own story about them one summer. It was an unpublished story and is now lost among our boxes of things that have been moved multiple times since then. From reading this story I could feel how Bailey is a member of this family and is loved very much. My children enjoyed hearing about the adventures and seeing the illustrations and especially the photos of the real dog.

My one criticism of the book is that all the text is done in capital letters. As an elementary teacher this is something that bothers me especially from my time working with young and beginning readers. I'd much rather see the text done the way it is taught and that would make this book easier for children to read to themselves.
4176590
A bear searches for his beloved hat, politely asking many forest creatures if they have seen it. When the search yields nothing, the bear becomes depressed, but then he comes to a sudden realization: he has seen his hat.

A story written in very simple language, delightful for young children but with a twist that entrances older children and adults as well. Read with an edge, the humor becomes something quite different. I use it at the close of a lesson on making inferences in my sixth grade classroom, and the students always love this book. The illustrations are also something special, simple yet a perfect fit.
2230832
I bought this book because one - i'm a sucker for a dog story and two, because half of the proceeds go to an animal shelter.  The story took about 9 minutes to read.  I knew it was a short story - but it read like the author was rushing to get it done and up for sale. The characters were not very developed.  She says it only took her a few hours to write, and it really shows.  I do applaud the author for giving half the proceeds to the animal shelter - but really, it was as if a middle school student wrote this in a one hour english 101 class. Whoever chose the cover picture of the book did a great job. It is actually the best part of the book. If you really want to read a good story told from a dogs perspective - read: One Good Dog.  That was an excellent story and the author really got into the dogs head.
4238940
The Border Collie on the front cover caught my eye and the quotes on the back like...On couches being chewable because they are actually sausages..."it's got skin, it's got stuffing, what am I not getting here?"

It is about a guy that is down on his luck and he acquires a dog that speaks to him and only him.  I think the author has caught a dog's mind pretty well!  Like when Reg is sniffing the clean laundry  "Washing, watch it whirr and change the smells. It's like magic!"  The "information post" is also a good one.

A fun read, especially for anyone who loves dogs!
426955
I liked the book. It was a nice change with the dog narrating the story. It added a fun perspective.
2766670
Some breeds of dog are especially picture book friendly.  Your bulldogs, of course.  Your weiner dogs.  And then there's your West Highland terriers.  I daresay that if you were to ask what type of pup is owned by more children's authors and illustrators than any other, it would be this breed.  Author Rosemary Wells (who wrote the "McDuff" books) takes hers to book signings.  "Widget", by Lyn Rossiter McFarland created a series out of her character.  And now, to top it all of, David Shannon has thrown himself into the mix.  Best known at this point in time for his "David" picture books (though I consider his, "Duck On a Bike" to be one of the best readlouds ever conceived), Shannon has come up with a whole crop of misbehaving but adorable misfits.  First came "David" and his ilk.  Then trotted out, "Alice the Fairy".  And now we've gone into the world of canines with the new dog in town, "Good Boy, Fergus!".  He's a West Highland terrier who, according to the bookflap, is found, "in ten of David Shannon's books".  Apparently being an extra has paid off well in the end.  Fergus has gotten his very own book and he's attempting to take the world by storm.

Your first view of Fergus is of a little white dog playfully chewing a monkey toy, rear firmly in the air.  The first official page of the book, however, shows the little guy's head just barely peeping up over the coverlet of a bed.  "Good morning, Fergus!  Want to go out?".  You bet he does.  Together, we spend a day with a dog.  From tummy tickles to a failure to obey commands, to the rapid destruction of a houseplant, we see Fergus pull every trick in the book.  No matter what he tends to do, however, in the end he's always a, "Good boy".  And by the time you see him sleeping peacefully on the bed's coverlet, you almostn begin to believe it yourself.

Until now, I don't think you can say that Shannon's done out-and-out cute before.  You can make a case for "Alice" or "David" having a kind of grody charm, but you certainly wouldn't slap a label of "Adorable" onto their books.  With "Fergus", it's different.  Something about this terrier has struck a particularly delicate chord in the author's heart.  Fergus hasn't the jolly ugliness of David's triangle nose and sharp pointy teeth.  Maybe it's the fuzziness that makes him so lovable.  Maybe the fact that Shannon can make a fast-moving dog's legs look to be in four different places at once.  Or maybe it all comes down to the, "Don't beg, Fergus", sequence.  This consists of four different colored shots, three of which show Fergus staring meaningfully up at a man sitting at the dinner table.  By the fourth panel the man has given in and Fergus, munching delightedly on a meatball, gives the audience a waggish wink.

Sometimes picture books with canines can be separated into two categories: For Dog Lovers Only and For Everybody.  "Fergus" kinda straddles this line.  On the one hand, it's a perfectly nice book with plenty of mischief to keep the kids amused with doggie antics.  On the other, I think dog lovers will find this book especially amusing.  The rest of us?  Moderately.  Unlike the David books, Fergus's antics are just those of a high-strung pup.  You can't revel in his naughtiness because so much of what he does is just what dogs do.  The two-page spread of him having peed on everything in sight on a street corner is kind of naughty, but what else would you expect from a dog?  Now if David were to do that, it would be another matter entirely.  Just the same, it's hard to resist such a good-natured book.  And when it all comes down to it, kids will love this pup's crazy schemes.  Fun to read, "Good Boy, Fergus!", is a worthy successor of an already enjoyable series.
152191
This book is a classic, written by a well known and well respected writer. I know that myself, and anyone I have lent it to have thoroughly enjoyed it.
It tells the story of a a man and his dog---not unusual---but has a point of view and pacing perhaps different to most "dog books" in our era, which are usually based on dogs' requiring heroic rescues by humans, or vice versa, being the heroic rescuers OF humans (see military dogs, the dogs of 9/11, seeing eye and other dogs).

Nor is it laugh out loud funny like the works of James Herriot or  "Marley and Me"....

Perhaps it is outdated in being a simple story and a good one.
3719680
Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy is a good book, nice book. This book is about pet day at school, but dogs are not allowed. Her parents will not buy her a new pet. I wanted a new pet once but I could not have one. I  think 7-8 year-olds will enjoy this book.
1305772
It's the best book you've probably heard about it's the best
the dog is so cute and the dog is so fluffy