• Written by Sheryl McFarlane
  • Illustrations by Chrissie Wysotski
  • Ages: 3-7
  • 10.25 x 9, 32 pages
  • Full colour illustrations throughout
  • ISBN: 1-55041-551-4
  • hc $19.95 CDN / $14.95 US

Reviews

“The text of This Is the Dog with its bouncy four-line verses modeled on the nursery rhyme “This is the house that Jack built” is sure to delight young readers. Chrissie Wysotski’s illustrations of the irrepressible dog and his antics are hilarious. The full range of emotions, including shock, disgust, delight and exasperation are wonderfully portrayed on the faces of the humans who get in the way of the pup’s exuberance. The hero of This is the Dog is such an irresistible mutt that readers of all ages will find it easy to understand the total forgiveness which awaits him at the end of the story. Primary teachers can expect beginning readers to enjoy the rhyming text and may want to encourage their students to try writing some four line verses of their own based on a real or imaginary pet. Highly recommended.”
— CM Magazine

 

This is the Dog

Excerpt from This is the Dog

What do you do about a puppy that runs away? Get moving! That’s exactly what our frustrated young owner has to do in this delightful rhyming story.

dog paws

This is family
not happy to share
cookies and juice
with a bundle of hair.

Awards and Honours

  • Recommended by the Canadian Toy Council
  • Short-listed for the Ameila F. Howard-Gibbon Award

Author’s Inspiration

From the author…

Our family have had a menagerie of pets, including dogs. We have loved them all, but none perhaps more than the dogs we had shared our home with over the years, even the ones who regularly got into mischief. This story is a bit of an exaggeration about one of the dogs that our family has loved.

Publishers

Published by BunkaPub: Tokyo, 1994; Philomel Books: New York, 1993; and Orca Books: Victoria, 1991.

Return to the Picture Books page.

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