Book Review: Dog and Bear (children's book)

Dog and Bear: Two’s Company, by Laura Seeger (Roaring Book Press, 2007, 32 pages, ages 4-7, pre-school to grade 3) Boston Globe Horn Book Award Winner (Best Picture Book), New York Times best selling author, Caldecott Honor Award Winner* (available at the Howard County Public Library)

Dog and Bear has an adorable cover and comes highly recommended (note the awards above) as a book in the Dog-Bear collection of children's books. Dog is a dachshund (based on the author's own beloved Copper) and Bear is highly colorful and well put-together – he has probably been loved a lot – looks like he has had arm, ear and leg replacements of a different color.

Dog and Bear ** starts out so lovely with Dog packing his bones and books because he has decided to run away. Bear accepts his decision but then offers ice-cream at the last moment - that clinches it for Dog. He stays (just to eat the ice-cream, but you know he will unpack in a minute, too) and since ice-cream is a birthday treat, the three balloons that say Happy, Birthday, Bear! seem right at home on the following page.

But they’re not! Author Laura Seeger immediately awkwardly leads us into another episode.

My young ‘reader’ and I thought this was a strange way for a book to behave but continued on to a wonderful heartwarmingly funny tale about Bear’s birthday and Dog’s making (and eating) a birthday cake, followed by an additional heartwarmingly funny tale about Bear and Dog caring for each other – one, sick, and the other, pooped.

We loved the primary muted colors and the lettering of the title. And there is nothing more dear to children than bears and dogs!

* Recognized with 14 awards, Green is the first in the color series. Seeger's most recent color book, Blue, will certainly be awarded more recognition this year.

**After reading Dog and Bear, the reviewer checked the Amazon entries since the author had compiled so many awards, and came to the conclusion that part of the title was ‘missing’: it should have read, Dog and Bear: Two’s Company, Three Tales. We definitely would have enjoyed the book’s stories more.