Cowdog: Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond

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?

BUT, THEN, ALL THAT STUFF DOESN'T REALLY MATTER ANYHOW.

TALL OR SHORT, SLOW OR FAST, TINY EARS OR FLOPPY EARS, THERE'S PLENTY OF WORK AROUND HERE FOR BOTH OF US.

Ye-ep. A ranch dog's work is never done. And in Charlie's case, there's a good reason. Between breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and naps along the way, Charlies never gets around to doing much besides sniffing under the porch for intruders and finding a shady spot to close his eyes for a few minutes.

First chore--Chasing Daisy the cow out of the yard. Charlie makes sure that Suzie takes care of that.

I LIKE TO GIVE HER A CHANCE TO SHINE NOW AND THEN.)

After Mama serves up a bacon-accented breakfast, Charlie is off to help her in the garden, where he snores while Suzie helps dig carrots.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ! HUH? WHAT DID I MISS? I MUST HAVE ACCIDENTALLY CLOSED MY EYES.

Charlie comes to just in time for lunch. And then it's really time for action. Daisy has invaded the garden and gotten into the radishes again!

RRRRRRRRRRR! OOOOOOWW! OOOOOOH! THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HADN'T BEEN HERE!

Yessir! Charlie is a legend in his own mind. The savior of the ranch, taking care of everybody without ever breaking a sweat! Ree Drummond's Charlie the Ranch Dog follows her hypo-active Bassett buddy through his day as a courageous cowdog, aided prodigiously by the amusing illustrations of the notable Diane DeGroat. Kids will love the contrast between the quasi-philosophical Charlie and the frenetic terrier pup Suzie and will get a real giggle out of watching Suzie's efforts to vanquish a chipmunk who invades the scene on almost every page. Droll, ironic hyperbole is Charlie's style, much like his alter ego for older readers, Hank the Cowdog: 20th Anniversary Edition (See all Humor Books) in Robert Erickson's long-running series. Drummond, known to some adult readers as the Pioneer Woman blogger, here takes her real-life blog buddy into her venture into the world of picture books.

Yo Ho, Blow the Man Down: Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach by William Kotzwinkle

In Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach, America's favorite flatulent dog is off with his family for a tropical shore holiday, where Betty and Billy's family find their posh cottage most satisfactory.

As usual, Walter "blows it" as he tries to excavate a bone buried in the sand and inadvertently blows the grouchy Crabbe family's beach umbrella away. When Walter is summarily banned from the beach, Walter's sympathetic family try to assuage his hurt feelings with a pleasant stroll through the village, whereupon his unfortunate windiness blasts the meringue off the al fresco diners' Key Lime pie.

Confined to the cottage while the family frolics in the ocean, poor Walter decides to "make the best of it," snacking on a bag of tropical fruit, marked COOK THOROUGHLY. Suddenly, Walter hears Betty and Billy, stranded on a sand bar with the tide rising and shouting for help. Selflessly, he breaks out of the cottage and charges to their rescue. When the tropical fruit produces the predictably powerful effluent, Walter parts the ocean waters like Moses, allowing the kids to escape to the shore and exposing an old pirate chest filled with gold and jewels. The treasure thrills the family, who begin planning to purchase their own coastal cottage. Walter, however, is a disappointed and deflated dog: he'd been hoping for a chest filled with bones.

For more holiday happenings with the gad-about dog who is always a gas, see Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise.