Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Charlie the Ranch Dog

Charlie the Ranch Dog. Ree Drummond. Illustrated by Diane Degroat. 2011. HarperCollins. 40 pages.

Oh, hello. My name is Charlie. I live in the country. I'm a ranch dog. This is Suzie. She's my best friend. We sure don't look much alike, do we? Suzie, unfortunately, doesn't have the paws I have. Or the droopy eyes. Or the floppy skin. Or...the big dangly ears. Suzie's ears don't dangle. Never have. Never will. I try not to hold that against her.

I really liked this one! I thought it was a very cute dog story. Charlie may talk the talk, but does he really do as much work around the ranch as he claims?! One of the things I liked best about this one was Charlie's voice. It just felt right to me! I especially loved this scene:
The first thing we do every day is get out of bed early. Too early. Dark early. I'd better go wake up Suzie. She's never been much of a morning dog. 
And then there is this little gem:
After breakfast, I usually go help Mama in her vegetable garden. Mama loves her garden. I don't really understand all the fuss. I'd prefer a bacon garden myself. But I go ahead and lend a hand anyway.
Of course, half the fun is spotting the differences between the text and the illustrations!

I really, really enjoyed both the text and the illustrations. You might enjoy reading the back story of this picture book.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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