Join Books.org — it's free

Book cover of First Dog
Fiction - Adventure, Adventurers & Heroes, Fiction - Animals - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Animals - Mammals, Fiction - Historical People, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - U. S. People, Places & Cultures

First Dog

by J. Patrick Lewis, Beth Zappitello, Tim Bowers
Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Log in to track your reading progress.

Overview

Once upon a time a dog was looking for a home. Not just any home -- the perfect home, to be exact. So he decides to travel the world, visiting different countries and seeing how other dogs live.

On his travels Dog meets a Newfoundland in Newfoundland, an English bulldog in England, a poodle in Paris, and many other different kinds of dogs. And he learns about what they do and how they live. But sadly, none of these places are what Dog has in mind.

Can Dog find the perfect home?
YES, HE CAN!!

Savvy readers may have already guessed where Dog's perfect home is located but everyone, young and old, can't help but smile at the happy ending to his journey.

Synopsis

Once upon a time a dog was looking for a home. Not just any home -- the perfect home, to be exact. So he decides to travel the world, visiting different countries and seeing how other dogs live.

On his travels Dog meets a Newfoundland in Newfoundland, an English bulldog in England, a poodle in Paris, and many other different kinds of dogs. And he learns about what they do and how they live. But sadly, none of these places are what Dog has in mind.

Can Dog find the perfect home?
YES, HE CAN!!

Savvy readers may have already guessed where Dog's perfect home is located but everyone, young and old, can't help but smile at the happy ending to his journey.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2—In this story that encourages animal adoption, a Portuguese water dog wanders the world in search of the perfect place to live. The stray encounters 10 fellow canines along the way, including a Newfoundland and Russian wolfhound in their homelands, a Shar-Pei at the Great Wall, and a dingo in Australia. None of their habitats suit him. Returning to his old neighborhood, the pooch reads a newspaper headline, "First Family Looks for Dog." He squeezes through the wrought iron gate and trots to the White House entrance, where he sits in front of an open door exposing two pairs of legs. A single line of text reads, "Daddy, Daddy, can we keep him?" The authors slam-dunk the story with an emphatic, "Yes, we can!" A view of the dog sprawled asleep on the Oval Office carpet follows. Bowers's realistic yet comic illustrations blend rich vistas with charming poses and great facial expressions. The endpapers give facts about each breed the pup met along the way. Curiously, a Portuguese water dog is not included. Lewis and his daughter dedicate their book to those in the rescue community and offer ways to help these organizations. This makes one willing to give the authors license and overlook the fact that the Obama dog did not come from a shelter.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2β€”In this story that encourages animal adoption, a Portuguese water dog wanders the world in search of the perfect place to live. The stray encounters 10 fellow canines along the way, including a Newfoundland and Russian wolfhound in their homelands, a Shar-Pei at the Great Wall, and a dingo in Australia. None of their habitats suit him. Returning to his old neighborhood, the pooch reads a newspaper headline, "First Family Looks for Dog." He squeezes through the wrought iron gate and trots to the White House entrance, where he sits in front of an open door exposing two pairs of legs. A single line of text reads, "Daddy, Daddy, can we keep him?" The authors slam-dunk the story with an emphatic, "Yes, we can!" A view of the dog sprawled asleep on the Oval Office carpet follows. Bowers's realistic yet comic illustrations blend rich vistas with charming poses and great facial expressions. The endpapers give facts about each breed the pup met along the way. Curiously, a Portuguese water dog is not included. Lewis and his daughter dedicate their book to those in the rescue community and offer ways to help these organizations. This makes one willing to give the authors license and overlook the fact that the Obama dog did not come from a shelter.β€”Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Kirkus Reviews

Riding the wave of presidential-pooch enthusiasm comes the season's second picture book on the subject. An appealingly scruffy, homeless black mutt scans the newspaper, seeing articles on housing woes and global opportunities, and resolves to try his luck elsewhere. So off he treks by motorcycle, boat and ox-cart to such varied locales as Newfoundland, France, Croatia, Australia, South Africa and Peru, eventually circumnavigating the globe and fetching right back up in the East Coast city he started from. There he reads another newspaper headline-"First Family Looks for Dog"-and trots on over to the White House: "Daddy, Daddy, can we keep him?" ask two little-girl pairs of feet. The inevitable presidential answer: "YES, WE CAN!" Dog's quest is a little muzzy on the logic: He's off to find the "perfect place to live," but at each stop he compares himself to a local breed of dog and decides it's not for him, only occasionally making reference to housing. Not quite as ephemeral as the Feiffers' Which Puppy?, though-at least readers will get some geography. (Picture book. 5-8)

Book Details

Published
May 1, 2009
Publisher
Sleeping Bear Press
Pages
32
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781585364671

More by J. Patrick Lewis

Similar books