The First Dog

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite writing, beautiful pictures!
Review: Join Kip the cave boy as he journeys to his home through a trecherous land filled with ferocious mammoths and gigantic grizzly bears. Paleowolf, his wolf friend, helps Kip on his trek. This book is filled with lovely drawings detailed with a careful hand; the illustrations will delight children and adults alike. Another great accompishment by Jan Brett; the perfect book to add to a child's collection!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: The First Dog is truely a wonderful book. I run a day care and this book is the favorite of all the children. We have all of Jan Brett's book yet this one remains the most requested. Thank you Jan Brett for bringing so much pleasure to so many children!

Rating:
Summary: WOW! EXCELLENT STORY! WONDERFUL ART! GREAT GIFT OF ANY AGE!
Review: To date this is my favorite of all of Jan's Bretts wonderful books! It's beautiful and it tells a heart warming story!

Brett's artwork (as usual) is tremondous! The action is so real you can't help but exclaim at the turn of every page (even if you're an adult)! In addition Brett's technique of putting clues as to what will happen next in the borders of each picture also helps build the suspense. My 5-year-old quickly spys a tusk on one page's border and shouts "Oh no! Look out Kip a Big Mammoth is coming! Hey wolf! Warn Kip that a Big Mammoth is coming!" My boy couldn't be more into the story if he is was Kip himself. The best part of the border art is that it is very thematic. For example on the saber-toothed tiger page there are carved figurines and cave art of saber-tooths based on actual archeological finds! I wish I could give 5 stars but saber-tooth cats didn't really climb trees...

I'm usually very critical of children's books & movies. In my opinion too many are either boring, plotless, or hopelessly inaccurate. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy and other imaginitive works. But, for example elephants don't drink through their trunks like a straw! So why do we tell/show kids that they do?

Thankfully Brett would not make such an insulting mistake (saber-tooth in a tree is excuseable). This story is told so well, I assume that Brett actually did some serious research about Dog Domestication (she even uses the word Pleistocene!). The wolf befriends Kip the Cave Boy not just because it would make a cute story, but because Kip and the wolf have many things in common and while acting in each others self-interest they unite against common problems. AT LAST! Accurate Anthropology & Biology in a kid's book that KIDS ACTUALLY ENJOY!

P.S. looking for another excellent Kid's book on life in the Pleistocene? Try "Grunt the Primative Cave Boy" by Timothy Bush