Campout! Biscuit Goes Camping by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

It is a warm, late summer evening. Just the time to do something special!

A girl, already in her PJs, heads out into the backyard and under the clothesline with a pillow and a bundle of blankets.

This way, Biscuit. It's time to go camping.

WOOF!

She has her tarp. She has her blankets and pillow and flashlight and baggie of cookies. She tries to toss one side of the tarpaulin over the clothesline. Biscuit grabs another corner and starts pulling.

Silly puppy!

The girl evens up the four corners and anchors them down with four big rocks. Voila' A tent!

WOOF! Biscuit is distracted by something new that hops! The girl shines her flashlight on Biscuit's find. It's a frog! Then Biscuit spots something blink-blinking in the air. Biscuit barks again!

It's a FIREFLY!

Leaves blow in the wind, Whooooooo! Biscuit is a little bit intimidated.

WOW! The wind and the firefly seems to be telling them it's time to turn out the light. By the moonlight the girl, one flip flop on and one off, and Biscuit curl up together, cookies forgotten, and close their eyes.

But then.... UH-OH!

CRACK! BOOM!

Rain begins to splatter down, as the race is on to the kitchen door that Mom is holding open for them. Biscuit gets there first, making a B-line for his doggie bed.

The campout continues on the little round rug beside Biscuit's bed, as the two snuggle up together under their own covers, in Alyssa Satin Capucilli's Biscuit Goes Camping (My First I Can Read) (Harper). In fact, someone else came inside with them--the firefly!

Author Capucilli's simple narrative sticks to the high points of the action, accompanied by artist Pat Schories' sweetly and skillfully-drawn accompanying illustrative cues to make this My First I Can Read book for emergent readers a fun and funny adventure for the primary set, of which the Biscuit series are a standout. There are plenty more of these and other landmark beginner reader books in Harper's excellent catalog which help parents and teachers in making reading time fun time.

It's A Jungle Out There! Roy Digs Dirt! by David Shannon

Roy is a down-to-earth kind of guy.

ROY DIGS DIRT. DIRT MAKES ROY HAPPY!

Roy, is, of course, a dog.

He delights in dirtiness. He loves to dig up things like busted balloons, bent bottle caps, and broken backup lights. He loves to bury things like balls and bark and bones.

MUD IS LIKE DIRT GRAVY!

Roy digs everything dirty, but not...baths!

BATHS ARE THE OPPOSITE OF DIRT.

But maybe the best thing about Roy's dirt is that, in his very own backyard, from that very dirt, there grows...

A JUNGLE!

And sometimes in that jungle there are critters for Roy to bark at! There's a cat who thumbs his nose at him from on high, and a possum that giggles at the cat, and a rat, and a mouse... and then there is a skunk!

NOW ROY IS DIRTY AND STINKY!

But it's all good in this day in a dog's life. But then all dog days are good days in David Shannon's latest, Roy Digs Dirt (David Books) (Blue Sky Press, 2020).  Like author Shannon's award-winning picture book character David, Roy is a force of nature and a joyful one. After all, there's no limit to the fun to be had in a world composed of ..., well, dirt--when you're a dog who digs it. Shannon's hilarious drawings make the most of this dirty dog story, from Roy's delight in digging worms to his spread-eagle resistance to the bathtub. This one begs to be read aloud, and with all the funny visual cues artist Shannon provides, it is also great for emergent readers. And before you wash your hands of dirty dog tales, share this one with the Gene Zion's classic, Harry the Dirty Dog (Harry the Dog).

In their review Publishers Weekly, says "What this book offers is a real gift: the chance to spend time with an outsize personality whose happiness is pure, all encompassing, and seemingly without end."

Love, A Blanket, and a Good Book: Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog by Lisa Papp

Madeline Finn really, really wanted a puppy. And finally, Mom said yes.

Mrs. Dimple's big shaggy dog Bonnie has three puppies ready to go to new homes. But how can Madeline choose the right one?

"Why don't you see if someone picks you?" says Mrs. Dimple.

So I close my eyes and think of the name I chose. "Star," I whisper, and the littlest one climbs right into my lap.

Mrs. Dimple tells Madeline how she adopted Bonnie at the animal shelter. As she learns how to care for Star, Bonnie feeds her, forgives her for making messes, and gives her a blanket in which Star snuggles while Madeline reads to her. But Madeline worries about the animals at the shelter who have no forever home.

And when she visits the shelter with Mom and Mrs. Dimple, there is Mr. Chips, a dog who doesn't ever wag his tail. There are sad kitties and lonely bunnies with droopy ears.

Madeline goes into motion. She scours the linen closet for soft, old towels for the homeless animals, yet there are not enough for all of them.

When she reads to Star, he makes a soft little woof.

"Does anyone read to the shelter dogs," she asks Mom.

And when Mom sadly doesn't say yes, Madeline knows what to do. She makes posters for the library:

Saturday 10:00

Come read to the shelter animals.

Bring a blanket and a book.

At first, Madeline is the only reader there. But then a crowd of kids with blankets and freshly checked-out library books show up for a Saturday read-in at the animal shelter, in Lisa Papp's Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog (Peachtree Books, 2019). Papp's gentle storytelling is sweetly personal and perfectly paced, paired with her charming, softly textured pastel illustrations that warm the heart and fill it with compassion for homeless animals. Papp manages to tell a realistic story of one child and her pet while putting in a plug for both shelter animals and their supporters and libraries and reading. Pair this one with Lisa Papp's first Madeline story, Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.