5 Stars Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle Mary Newell DePalma Eerdmans Books for Young Readers 978-0-8028-5408-7 No. of Pages: 32 Ages: 3 to 7 ................................... ................... Back Cover: What begins as a playful game of fetch between a boy and his dog turns into wild goose chase that springs from one page to the next in this delightful romp of a story. ...............................
A nice summer morning scene unfolds to find a young boy playing catch with his dog. The boy throws a red ball for the dog to retrieve, the happy little eye-patched dog runs with glee after every throw, until . . .
“Meow!”
“Growl!”
The chase is on! The dog chases the cat and the boy chases the dog.
“Flutter-Flutter,” a butterfly looks on from above.
The cat jumps a small stream where a frog lives.
“Hip Hop! ribbet-ribbet.”
“Honk! Honk! Puddle, Paddle, Waddle. Glide.”
A pair of geese joins the chase, running after the frog, which is running after the boy, who is running after his dog, who is running after the cat
This wild goose chase continues, introducing more animals inthe chase, until . . .
Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle is a charming book for younger children. Each pair of animal sounds rhymes, adding an additional layer of fun. Alliteration is also used. Page to page the chase grows larger. At one point the boy, and all those behind him, get stuck in a bush, and the cat has run up a tree. The dog sits down and wonders where the cat went, and where his friend went, and realizes he is alone. Sadness sets in, and then . . .
Nope, I’m not spoiling this for you by blabbing the ending. I will say it is a great ending. Kids and parents will love the ending. Kids will want to read Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle until they have all the animal noises memorized. This is a great book for a read-along, especially if the reader likes to makes different sounds, inflections, and faces. There is not a pre-scholar around who will not love Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle.
I think this book is adorable, extremely cute, educational, and humorous. Besides learning the noises each animal makes when it speaks, children will learn the value of friendship. The dog is attached to the boy with the boy equally attached to his dog. The cat distracts the dog and he runs after it. Soon, he is by himself and not sure where he is, or the cat, or the boy he loves. When the dog realizes he is lost, the sadness is palpable.
The author is also the illustrator. Ms. DePalma has done a wonderful job illustrating the chase scenes, adding in each animal skillfully. Children will love pointing to each animal and the words it says. This is cute, adorable, witty, and a treasure all wrapped together waiting for parents and children to open it up. I suggest parents do that pronto—before the cat makes a purrfect getaway, the dog finds the red ball, and the boy remembers the game the two were playing, until so cattily interrupted.
I wish I had a child to read this to every night. Okay, maybe every other night—there are so many great books for the younger kids. Lucky for me, as a reviewer, I get to read all these books even without a kid, and no one thinks it is silly of me.
To read how Ms. DePalma wrote Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle goHERE!
Bow-Wow, Wiggle-Waggle
Author/Illustrator: May Newell DePalma FB website Publisher: Eerdman's Books for Young Readers website blog Release Date: August, 2012 ISBN: 978-0802854087 Number of Pages: 32 Ages: 3 to 7 .......................
Filed under: 5stars, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books Tagged: animal sounds, animals, boy and his dog, cats, children's books, dog, fetch, found, happy, lost, play ball, relationships, rhyming verse, sad, wild goose chase
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