Gettin' In The Game! Charlie Plays Ball by Ree Drummond

CHARLIE LIVES ON A RANCH.

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT LIVING ON A RANCH IS REALLY HARD WORK. ESPECIALLY FOR RANCH DOGS.

It's true, Charlie is a ranch dog. Does he herd cows? Does he guard the stock from coyotes all night without a wink of sleep?

Not so much. Watching cows graze all day makes Charlie sleepy. Watching cows graze all night makes Charlie sleep.

Charlie needs a lot of naps.

But Charlie has a job--an important job. He's a narrator.

That's right! That's Charlie's authentic voice that tells us what goes on down on the ranch. And without Charlie, no one would have a clue what a ranch dog has to do.

Today the kids are all home, and after a hearty ranch breakfast and some chores, they're all ready to play ball (Yep. We work hard and we play hard down here.)

A football comes out and the two teams chase up and down the meadow. The quarterback puts the ball in the air. It's a long pass, and the receiver goes for it. So does Charlie.

HE DROPS THE BALL. (SNIFF! SNIFF!).

DOES THAT MEAN IT'S MINE?

UH OH!!

Charlie is tackled from all sides. OOOFF! What was he thinking?

But Charlie is soothed by belly rubs from all the tackles and by the sight of a tray of time-out snacks.

YEP! FOOTBALL IS MY FAVORITE, ALL RIGHT!

But when the soccer ball and the baseball come out of the equipment bag, Charlie's got game--for both of them. . . until Mama calls them all in to eat. What's on the menu, mom? Spaghetti and....

MEATBALLS?

MY VERY FAVORITE BALL OF ALL.

Ranch Woman Ree Drummond's Charlie Plays Ball (Charlie the Ranch Dog) (Harper, 2015) gives her floppy-eared narrator a chance to do the play by play in her latest picture book, illustrated  again by Diane deGroat, whose adorable Basset hound Charlie gamely tags along after the ballplayers while trying to keep his eyes open. Nobody does appealing animal characters with more personality than De Groat, and chef Drummond dishes up an appended recipe for spaghetti and homemade meatballs with all the fixin's and passes the (meat) balls with the best of them.

Fans of Drummond's Charlie picture books should sniff out his I-Can-Read stories, such as Charlie the Ranch Dog: Stuck in the Mud (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie's New Friend (I Can Read Book 1), Charlie the Ranch Dog: Where's the Bacon? (I Can Read Book 1), and Charlie the Ranch Dog: Charlie Goes to the Doctor (I Can Read Book 1).