Dogs Rule!

Arf! Bark! Bow wow! That's what dogs say, but just what are they trying to tell us? Find out: Why they chase their tails. Reasons to play fetch at 6 a.m. What's so great about fire hydrants? Which collars they don't want to wear and why. From a posh, perfumed lapdog to the ever-hungry chow hound, dogs tell you why cats drool and dogs rule!

Kindergarten-Grade 6-In this oversized book, 22 lengthy poems, one per spread, run the gamut of dogginess. Rover delights in his sticky, red rubber ball. A puppy begs to be petted. An elegant lapdog enjoys her pampered lifestyle. Then there's the chowhound that is always hungry. A Chihuahua suffers from a poor body image and a terrier just wants to be loved. Canines catch Frisbees, go for walks, chase tails, are paper trained, and dig up bones. The selections are accompanied by bold, dynamic, full-page illustrations of expressive dogs. Kirk sings these clever selections on the accompanying CD. His voice is pleasant and the enunciation is clear. The varied instrumental styles such as rock, blues, and toy piano add another level of enjoyment to the book. This poetic canine tribute is sure to be a hit with dog lovers.
Linda Staskus, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3-5. Kirk offers 22 rhymed exclamations of doggy devotion, from a puppy's obsession with being petted to a chowhound's passion for food, from one pooch offering a rubber ball slimed and ready to toss to another answering the musical question, "Who's your best friend?" And a musical question it is, for the verses are all sung, with midrange tempos and simple arrangements, on the enclosed CD. Despite the occasional grumble about a cat or a collar, the tone is generally cheery, as reflected in Kirk's big, directly-in-your-face portraits of smooth-furred, broadly grinning canines. The selections, especially in their recorded versions, tend to go on too long, but the pleasures of tail chasing, hanging out of a car window, gnawing bones, and taking walks past a fire hydrant ("Every dog who's been here / leaves a special scent. / I don't know where they've gone, / but I can tell you where they went!") have never been captured with more slobbery exuberance. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved