Bark, George

Bark George
Written and illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Ages: up to 4 years old

This is a cute story that young children will love. George is a puppy who is asked by his Mom to bark. Each time he opens his mouth, a different animal noise comes out. Maybe it's because I'm an adult, but I immediately jumped to the conclusion that George was being a young, obstinate pup. But this was not the case. When George's Mom took him to the vet and George meowed, the vet reached down into George mouth and pulled out a cat! And when George went "quack-quack", the vet pulled a duck out of George. This process continues until the vet has to put on his extra-long latex globe and pull out a cow! Finally, with this last animal removed, George can bark again.

The illustrations are simple and entertaining.

Sidenote: The vet looks like the villain from Frosty the Snowman, Professor Hinkle.

Questions to ask:

1. Go over the sounds that the animals make.
2. "Do you know what a vet does?"
3. "How big is a duck?"
   
4. "How big is a pig?"
5. "How big is a cow?"

Programming ideas:
CRAFT #1 - print out an outline of a dog (click here for example) and have the kids draw in some animals that they think might live inside the dog. Have them talk about their choices.