BOOKS: 'Go, Dog, Go!'

BOOKS: 'Go, Dog, Go!'

Now that Peter's 20 months old, he's been really into us reading him stories and "buchs" as he calls them. It's cool to see your kid getting into the same books you read when you were a lad – "Cat in the Hat," "Ten Apples Up On Top," "Curious George," etc.

Peter's favorite book, lately, is a classic:
You can't go wrong with 'Go, Dog, Go!', which combines two of Peter's favorite things in life – cars and dogs! We'll read it to him several times a week. It's been fascinating to watch as he develops more and more interest in books, seeing them less as chew toys and more as objects full of ideas. He loves pointing out things he recognizes - he bleats "caaaaahhhhhhhh" whenever he sees an auto, plus "buh" (bird), "li" (light), " 'nighnigh" (bed) and more every day.

But "Go, Dog, Go!" is cool because it was also one of my favorite books when I was a wee sprat. There's something that puts P.D. Eastman's book above many others -- the colorful cast of cavorting dogs, who run around driving their cars, skiing, on houseboats and more. I used to read this book over and over again as a lad.


My favorite part of course, is the huge old dog party that closes out the book. All the dogs pile in their cars and speed off to an enormous tree out in the middle of nowhere. Once they're there, they climb up to the top of the tree and erupt in a Bacchanalian celebration that always kind of blew my mind. Check out all the action at this gig!

I used to stare at this activity-filled page for long minutes as a kid. There's so much going on in it it's amazing. Why did the dogs climb the tree and have a party up there? What's the hullabaloo all about? You could look close and see all kinds of wacky details.

They're launching dogs out of CANNONS, for crying out loud! This is why "Go, Dog, Go!" rocks.