Can I Be Your Dog?

Can I Be Your Dog? By Troy Cummings

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Genre: Fiction

Introduction and Justification:

          Scholastic book clubs are adapt at finding amazing read aloud books for students. When browsing for books to get for my students I saw this book. The engaging cover and book immediately drew in the eye. This book would be perfect for letter writing. It was added to the cart and checked out. The book arrived and even though grad school beckoned this book needed to be read. After reading it this book became the free choice for graduate school. It was time to investigate this book and it was discovered this book is on the 2019 Texas 2x2 list. The book was meant to be used.

Evaluation of book:

The illustrations in this book make the story amazing. Troy Cummins sets the mood in the story with his pictures and letters. The cover pages show Arfy writing a letter in a dark alley next to a box. This page is then juxtaposed to a cheerful house with blue skies, children playing outside and everyone smiling. This shows you why he wants to live at the house. As his rejection letter arrives the letter is yellow, bright and cheery and his home has some color, but it is drab. You can see a broken bottle showing that it is not a safe welcoming home. This juxtaposition continues until Arfy gets a letter taped to his box. This letter shows a yellow background. The envelope is green and pink and symbolizes hope. As Arfy runs into the arms of his new owner the bright yellow color and lines show his speed, hope and excitement. The mood is expressed with the author not saying a word.

This book reinforces the text. Each letter matches the pictures. At the yellow house he refers to the cat why can be seen on the tree. When Arfy tries the butcher shop you can see the butcher shop complete with a ham bone mail box. Arfy gives a clear reason why the butcher shop would be a great place for him. The text and illustrations work as a single unit. The story would not have the same meaning without the pictures. The pictures show how Arfy is starting to give up hope. The saddest page is when Arfy is crying the in the rain after getting rejected. It makes the reader want to cry. As the sun rises and the rain stops you can see a letter on Arfy’s box. This letter represents hope and that he will be alight.

 The pictures help to extend and develop the plot. At the end of the book there is no text. However, you can see what is happening through the pictures. You can see Arfy looking excited and running toward the mail carrier. The book never explicitly states in words how bad Arfy’s situation is. Instead it is show through the illustrations. The story depends on the pictures to help progress the story. Each picture gets worse and worse until you see hope at the end. Troy Cummings has a gift of telling his books through the mirroring of words and pictures. He is detail oriented giving the reader clues from the cover.

Response:

(d) When getting a pet people think of the responsibility, the cost, and how cute the pet is. Many times, the thought is not where the pet came from and what it is living through. As the dog is trying to find a good home you see his conditions getting worse and worse. We are quick to judge and not accept. The dog was trying to better his situation, but he was struggling, and the people made it harder for him. When he was given a chance, he excelled.

(e) This book is a touching book about accepting others and giving love. The book can be used to teach letter writing. It also can be used to show visual literacy elements. The illustrator uses color to help spread the story. The end pages doe a great job of showing how you can make a difference in an animal’s life. (g) This is going to be a must have book in my library. So many students will love the illustrations and text. It is a hero they can root for and relate to. When reading this book, I wanted to cry and then cheer at the end. Students will love the tone and the way it connects to their own lives.

Conclusion:

          Can I Be Your Dog? Should be placed at every shelter. This dog discusses the courageous journey of a dog trying to find his “fur “ever home. The beautiful illustrations and letter format tell a tale together. Your heart goes out to the dog making the reader want to cry and take the dog to joy at the end of the story. You can feel the characters through their letters and feel what type of homes these characters live in. This a story of hope and persistence. Dog and cat people will want to run out and adopt a pet after reading this book.

Works Cited

Alsc. (2019). Awards, Grants & Scholarship. Retrieved from Association for Library Service to Children : http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants

Cummings, T. (2018). Can I be you dog? . Random House Books for Young Readers.

Texas Library Association. (2019). Reading Lists. Retrieved from TLA Texas Library Association: https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/

Williamson, O. M. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm