Reviews

Doggone Feet! by Leslie Helakoski

scostner's review

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4.0

I won this in a Curious City DPW giveaway and it arrived today. I love how the story is told from the dog's point of view. That would make an excellent discussion point for students about how perspective changes the way a story is told and events are described. The counting by twos would be great for a math lesson, but I don't need to list all the curriculum tie-ins because there is a free 22-page teacher's guide available at Leslie's website. Every elementary library should have a copy.

The dog in the story is the narrator and describes everything from her perspective, usually from under the kitchen table. First she follows Legs home, then Toes shows up (Legs is the man of the house and Toes is his lady love). Toes takes up room and gets attention from Legs, but does sometimes rub the dog's back. Gradually other feet arrive, some wearing Socks, or Boots, or Slippers (children for Legs and Toes). Each time the dog thinks this is just too many feet, but there is always something good about each pair of feet. Readers see the dog nibbling on scraps dropped on the floor, licking off sticky fingers, taking care of unwanted pieces of dinner, and getting bigger and bigger. There is an amusing surprise at the end of the story (I can't tell or it would be ruined).

beecheralyson's review

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4.0

loved the twist at the end.
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