The Dog Gang Collection
by
Yael Roseman
Disclaimer: Any views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone. I was provided this book for free in return for a honest review.
I am always in the market for childrens books for my daughter, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to review the book Dog Gang Collection because she loves animals but most of all anything she loves dogs.
The Dog Gang Collection is a wonderful series of stories about dogs named Cleo, Bowie, and Zaza. They are friends that meet at the dog park regularly to play while their owners watch.They are young and playful but each has a very different personality.
First, there is Cleo. Cleo is a cute, playful, little black dog that is thin and can run very fast, she has a owner names Shila that loves her very much. Cleo especially enjoys being pet by her owner Shila.
The next member of the Dog Gang is Bowie, she is a big dog that can be a bit clumsy because even though she is a puppy, that is less than a year old, she is very large in size and still has a lot to learn. She is a big lovable dog that tries to be helpful, which can sometimes get her in a little trouble. Bowies owner is Benny, he tries to teach her what she should and should not do but as it always is when trying to teach, sometimes you have to do what is wrong to learn what is right.
Lastly, there is Zaza, a bit of a diva, she loves to look pretty with her bows in her hair and be noticed as the prettiest dog in the park, dont let her fool you though she can be a little more active when she wants too. Her owner is Morin who makes sure she looks her best everytime.
Bowie Finds a Doll
The first story in the collection is Bowie Finds a Doll. This story begins with Cleo, Bowie, Zaza playing ball as their owners watch. When they lose the ball, Bowie tries to retrieve it only to find a doll that belongs to a little girl.
The Dog Gang fight over the doll til their owners take the doll and return it to its owner. Bowie is recognized by her owner as finding the doll after Cleo and Zaza try to take credit for finding the doll.
I found the story to very cute. The behavior of the dogs as described in the book as their playing turning into fighting over the doll was very realistic to how dogs play in real life at times. The one thing I did notice was that there was not a resolution or lesson learned in the story. about them fighting . would have been a good lesson about sharing and playing fair with other for children.
The Puppy
The second story in the collection, The puppy, is about a new puppy that comes into Bowies life that she and her owner are taking care of him. The puppy has cute, white, soft fur and is still is not as careful as yet so Bowie tries to look after it. Bowie does get in a little trouble when she tried to taste him and quickly learned that she had to be more careful with him.
Bowie tries to think of ways to take care of him and things that might make her happy. Bowie managed to get in trouble again trying to touch him again but did later save the puppy from falling into a fish pond. The puppy got scared and went into a thicket. Everyone in the Dog Gang tried to get her out but the bushes would hurt them. Bowie saved the day by pushing forward in the bushes to get the puppy even though it might hurt her and recieved great praise for her actions.
This story I really liked because it showed that you have to learn how to care for others and protect them when they can not protect themselves. I think much younger children would like it and maybe they can relate to taking care of small animals if they have any.
A Thin Thread of Love
A Thin Thread of Love, is the 3rd book in the Dog Gang Collection. In this book, Bowie's owner Benny has to go away for a far away trip and is leaving soon so he is putting Bowie in Deila's care while he was gone.
While in Deilas care Bowie begins to act disobedient by not walking along with everyone, sometimes she wouldlag behind, and other times she would chase an animal and pull everyone. When they finally got to the park Bowie was very disruptive and they had to leave early. Upon leaving, Deila put a traingincollar on Bowie to show she was incontroland that she needed to behave. After Bowie gets upset and understands, they share a hug.
I found this story to be very relatable because not only do you have to discipline your animals when they misbehave at times, it also relates to when children misbehave also, but of course there would be no training collar involved.
Cleo's Ears
The forth installment of this collection, is Cleo's Ears, which is about Cleo and the things she can do with her ears that is different from other dogs. Cleo's ears were pointed at the tip and could bend.She loved showing of the tricks she could do with her ears.
Cleo showed them ear splits, she clapped her ears, and how she could cross her ears. Bowie wanted to try it but couldnot because her ears were different than Cleos. Cleo joked about Bowies ears and Zaza tried to do it also but to no avail.
There was a new dog Spot, that was white with black spots, that was watching them the entire time and when Cleo ask him if he wanted to try. He told her no and exsplained to her how everyone is different in different ways and that each peron is special.
I really liked this story, in fact it is my favorite one, because it is a great story for kids to read. This has a good lesson about not treating people bad because they are different for you and to understand that everyone has their own unique characteristics.
What's So Scary?
In the final installment of the Dog Gang Collection, The Dog Gang is in the park on a rainy day. Cleo and Bowie were enjoying themselves getting wet and Zaza was making sure to stay dry. Everyone was having a good day til they heard thunder which frightened Zaza.
Bowie did not understand why Zaza was so scared. Bowie said she was not scared of anything. Zaza asked her if she is scared of several things but Bowie said no. Bowie didnt understand why anyone would be scared of all the things Zaza was scared of much less anything else. Just then Morin opened a umbrella and Bowie got scared and growled at the umbrella. When Morin closed the umbrella Bowie calmed down and tried to look at it. When he opened Bowie got scared again.
I liked the story but I think it needs a little more detail at he end. The illustration looked a like it could have been better but it does show that everyone is afraid of something.
Overall, I think the Dog Gang Collection is a good set of books. There are some stories that could use a little refining but the illustrations are good. I would recommend this book to anyone that has children from the age of 3 and above becausethey would understand that stories best.
If you are interested in reading about the Dog Gang then you can view information for it at:
As always thanks for stopping by my blog and happy reading!
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