I have a dog (an inconvenient dog) by Charlotte Lance
Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN 9781743317815.
(Age: Preschool) 'When I wake up my dog is inconvenient.
When I'm getting dressed, my dog is inconvenient.
And when I'm making tunnels, my dog is really inconvenient...'
But there are some times when the dog is not inconvenient and
sometimes when there is no other source of comfort, particularly as
the day draws to a close and dinner is disgusting, television is
scary and it's time to snuggle down to dream.
This is a quintessential picture book where neither text nor
pictures can make sense without the other. As we follow the
child through the day, the text is minimal but the pictures tell the
story so well, creating lots of laugh-out-loud moments as scenes
familiar to anyone with a dog, particularly a young one, are played
out with a detail that means there is no need for additional
words. This would be a great bedtime read-aloud where parent
and child could share it together, talking about their own
experiences. (My dog is inconvenient when it's bedtime and I
want the pillow but she is very convenient when we need to put the
chooks away at night!)
But as well as its entertainment value, it also has an educational
one particularly for the early reader because it encourages them to
search the pictures for clues, interpret and explain them so the
story make sense and forms a whole... Putting on my reading
teacher's hat of days gone by, I can picture myself using this
delightful book with some of my little characters who were
struggling with sorting out this reading thing. As well as the
value with the text/illustration relationship and having them talk
and draw about their own dogs, it would also help them understand
that they CAN read 'real' books just like their friends, overcoming
the negative thoughts they impose on themselves about never
succeeding. Imagine the thrill of being able to take it home
and really read it so your listener listens, not to mention having
mastered a roll-off-the-tongue word like 'inconvenient'!
One to promote to your early childhood teachers as well as your
parent body.
Barbara Braxton