I am a librarian and a picture book author/illustrator – it’s a perfect combination as I get to spend lots of time around books. I’m also a huge animal lover, with a special fondness for dogs. I can’t resist a picture book about dogs, and it’s no surprise that my first picture book was based on a true story about one very brave little dog. It is not easy to recommend only 5 books, but these are certainly my top favorites both in text and art. Happy reading!
I wrote...
Little Dog Lost: The True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic
On a cold winter day, a curious dog wandered onto a frozen river, and before he knew it he was traveling fast on a sheet of ice. Many people tried to help, but the dog could not be reached. Finally, after two nights and seventy-five miles, the little dog was saved by a ship out in the Baltic Sea.
The gallant rescue of the little dog nicknamed Baltic made international news. Mônica Carnesi's simple text and charming watercolor illustrations convey all the drama of Baltic's journey. His story, with its happy ending, will warm readers' hearts. An author's note and map are included.
A family out for a picnic in the park meets a little dog. He’s shy at first, but soon they are playing together. When it’s time to go home, the little dog stays behind, but the whole family cannot forget him. As each day of the week passes, they all wonder about him. Next Saturday cannot come soon enough, and they rush back to the park. Can they find him before the dog catcher does? My favorite book about rescuing and adopting a new friend.
“This picture book has all the earmarks of a classic. Simont gets it all right.” —The Horn Book (starred review)
Caldecott Medalist Marc Simont's heartwarming tale of a stray dog is told with tender simplicity and grace.
When a little dog appears at a family picnic, the girl and boy play with him all afternoon, and they name him Willy. At day's end they say good-bye. But the dog has won their hearts and stays on their minds.
The following Saturday the family returns to the picnic grounds to look for Willy, but they are not alone—the dog catcher is…
Ed lives with the Ellis family. Ed is a good dog – a very good dog. But in Ed’s family, everyone is excellent. Could that be why he is not allowed to eat at the table? Or use the indoor bathroom? Maybe Ed needs to be excellent too. He will try to be excellent, but what will happen if he cannot do it? There’s so much to love about this earnest and sweet dog and his adoring family.
Dog lovers will adore this imperfect yet endearing mutt and his quest for excellence!
***Winner of an Ezra Jack Keats New Author Honor Award!***
Everyone in the Ellis family is excellent--except Ed.
Ed wonders if this is why he isn’t allowed to eat at the table or sit on the couch with the other children. So he’s determined to find his own thing to be excellent at--only to be (inadvertently) outdone by a family member every time.
Now Ed is really nervous--what if he’s not excellent enough to belong in this family?
Boot and Shoe are siblings and best pals. They live together in the same house and do everything together, but they are each in charge of opposite porches: Boot can be found guarding the back porch, while Shoe takes care of the front porch. Until one day, when a squirrel ran amok around their house and turned everything upside down. Now, where is Boot? And where is Shoe? And can they find each other again? You can’t help but be fully invested in these two adorable doggie characters.
Boot and Shoe were born into the same litter, and now they live in the same house. They eat out of the same bowl, pee on the same tree, and sleep in the same bed. But they spend their days apart - Boot is always on the back porch because he's a back porch kind of dog, and Shoe likes to be on the front porch because he's a front porch kind of dog. This is exactly perfect for them. But then a crazy neighbourhood squirrel arrives ...and everything goes topsy-turvy! Caldecott Honor Medalist Marla Frazee brings her signature wit,…
When bedtime arrives, where is Fred? A big, fluffy dog, he’s busying himself with everything else, except getting ready for bed. He runs through flower beds and mud, needs a bath, plays hide-and-seek, and finally ask for one more story. Mirroring behavior of any toddler avoiding bedtime, Fred finally gets ready for a good night sleep. Drawn loosely in ink and watercolor, Fred will run away with your heart as well.
It's time for bed. But will Fred go to bed? You bet he won't! From hiding up trees, and splashing in muddy puddles, to hiding in the kitchen sink and disappearing behind bookshelves, Fred will do ANYTHING to avoid bedtime. He would even prefer to have a bath. But what's this? All that running around couldn't possibly have made Fred sleepy . . . could it?
A delightful bedtime book, destined to become a classic.
Meet Daisy, a bouncy puppy with a favorite red ball. One day, while playing in the park, a bigger dog bites on it and –puff! Her ball completely deflates. Daisy is crushed! She returns home and buries herself on the sofa, totally downcast. Told in wordless panels, Daisy’s feelings are deeply felt and understood. The illustrations are amazingly expressive and perfectly capture the character’s emotional journey from playfulness to sadness. On a return visit to the park, can Daisy find a way to joy again?
This New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Best Illustrated Book relates a story about love and loss as only Chris Rashcka can tell it. Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy's anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo! Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to…
I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America.
I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.
The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.
In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.
Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption
Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
dogs,
New York City,
and
Boston.
