Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove)

The Puppy Book by Jan Pfloog

The Puppy Book is a Golden Super Shape Book. The story was written by Jan Pfloog and was first published in 1968.

The pages are colorful and feature all kinds of breeds. Children learn that all puppies are not small. Some puppies are bigger than others. Some of thinner. Some are fatter. Some are shorter. Some are taller. The first page would be a great time to discuss the concepts of big, little, tall, short, large, and small to younger children.

Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove)

Children learn that puppies come in different colors. Some are white. Some are black. Some are brown. Some are multi-colored.

Children learn that puppies are messy when they eat and they sometimes chew on things other than foods.

Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove)

 Children learn that puppies like to play. They like to play with other dogs and sometimes even cats. They like to play "tug-of-war" with rags and ropes. They also like to chase balls.

Children learn that puppies like to rest when they get tired.

Activities to Enhance the Reading Experience

After reading the story, enhance the reading experience by encouraging the children to participate in creating a puppy graph. Give the children photographs or cut-outs of various puppy breeds. Tell them to place the tall puppies in the "tall" column and place the short puppies in the "short" column. Children might also enjoy a puppy color graph. Place brown puppies in the "brown" column. Place white puppies in the "white" column and so forth.

Discuss dog foods with children. Educate the children on the proper care and feeding of dogs and other animals.

Address questions such as:

How much food should a puppy have each day?

What kinds of dog and puppy foods are best for certain dogs and puppies?

Is it healthy for a puppy to eat adult dog food?

Is it healthy for puppies to eat human food from the table?

Should dogs drink milk or just water?

Many children have puppies or other animals at home so they have probably experienced having an animal which chewed up mom or dad's favorite pair of slippers or tore the fabric on the living room furniture. Allow them to tell their puppy stories. Then, discuss ways in which pet owners might encourage animals to not chew on things other than food.

Allow the children to discuss all the different ways they play with their pets. Some of their stories might be quiet hilarious.

Make a classroom pet scrapbook. Ask the children to bring in photos of their pets. Place a photo of each child and their pet on a piece of construction paper. Leave enough room at the bottom of the page for the child to write a couple of sentences. Instruct the child to write a sentence or two about their pet. It might be as simple as "My dog's name is Charlie. He likes to run with me. I love my dog."

Allow the children to be creative and write whatever they want about their pet, but help them when needed. Then, laminate the pages and bind them together to create a book. Send the book home with a different student each night to read with their parents. Continue this until each child has had a chance to take the book home. Then, leave it in your reading center for the remainder of the year so that the children may enjoy the book whenever they like.

Puppy and Dog Crafts

Puppy Paper Bag Puppets 

Supply each child with one brown or white lunch sized paper bag. Tell the children to slide their hands into the paper bag so that they will see how the folds in the bottom of the paper bag can become the mouth of a puppet. Then, allow the children to cut out puppy ears, legs, and a tail. Supply them with wiggly eyes, pom-poms, yarn, glue, and anything else you think might make great puppy features. Instruct the children to create a puppy face. The mouth should align with the paper bag folds. Then, attach the ears, legs, and tail. After the glue dries, the children can get into groups and put on puppet shows.

Puppy Paper Plate Craft 

The children will need paper plates, paints (gray, brown, and black), construction paper, and craft supplies to create puppy facial features. Instruct the children to paint their paper plates. They can decide if they want a gray dog, a brown dog, a black dog, or a white dog. If you supplied the children with white paper plates, those who prefer white dogs will not need to paint. Some children might want to add spots or patches to their plates. Tell them to cut puppy ears from construction paper and use the other craft supplies to create facial features.

Shape Dogs 

If you are teaching shapes, create "shape dogs." Supply the children with one large shape for the body of the dog. You might use a large square or triangle for the body. Use another large shape, but a little bit smaller than the body, for the dog's head. Supply them with four rectangles for legs, an oval for a short tail, circles for eyes, a small triangle for the nose and two large ovals for floppy ears. They can use a marker to draw on a mouth and then add a half oval for a tongue.

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