Picture Book Pick of the Week - Harry the Dirty Dog

I chose a book about cats for my last 

Picture Book Pick of the Week.

My dog was feeling slighted by this choice, so this week I decided to feature a cute book about his kind --

in particular, a book about a dog that likes to get dirty.  

A dog quite like my pet, Sammy.  
He especially loves to roll in anything stinky!  Sigh.   

The title of todays' book choice is 

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion.

I'm linking this post to Deanna Jump's
Let's Talk Books linky party.  
You may want to pop by there for more book ideas later! 

But on to the story!
Now Harry was a dog that didn't like to have baths.
So much so, that on bath day he'd hide his scrub brush by burying it in the yard!

One day he decided to leave his home to go have an adventure.
He went to all kinds of places.
And he got dirtier.. 

and dirtier...

...until he was no longer a white dog with black spots.
  Now he was a black dog with white spots!

Harry began to miss his family, but when he returned home, he was so dirty that no one knew who he was!

In a panic, Harry tried all kinds of tricks to get his family to recognize him.  
But nothing worked!

So Harry came up with a plan.
He dug up his scrub brush and ran upstairs with it.

The children saw that the "stray dog" wanted a bath.

So they obliged.  And guess what happened?

When Harry got out of the bath, his family recognized him!
Now Harry was happy to be all clean!

But he still hid his scrub brush under his pillow!

I read Harry the Dirty Dog when we were doing a pet unit (and of course showed the children a picture of my dirty dog at the same time!)

This book could also be great combined with a little lesson on hand washing and germs, a unit on health, or just for no reason at all! 
 Books about pets are always fun to read!

Since we're on the topic of dogs, I couldn't resist sharing the poster below ( originally posted by Q107 Toronto).  

I definitely see myself in this progression!

Does this sound familiar to anyone? :)

Mr. Pusskins - Picture Book Pick of the Week + Freebie

Do you love cats?

I know I do.  

Even though they tend to be moody and grouchy and very much "in charge" of the household. 

Or maybe that's just my cat?

Well, I do know of another fictional cat that's just like mine--   And he is featured in this week's 

 Picture Book Pick of the Week.

This week's choice is

  Mr. Pusskins by Sam Lloyd.

This book is funny and sweet with a pace just perfect for the Preschool and Kindergarten crowd.

In the story, Mr. Pusskins is treated like a little king by his owner Emily, but Mr. Pusskins appreciates nothing.

(Just get a load of his expression below!)

  Mr. Pusskins wants something better for himself and he thinks he can find it out in the big, wide world. 

He runs away to a life in the streets and finds a raucous gang of alley cats to "hang" with.

They have lots of fun.  For a while.  

Then Mr. Pusskins realizes that the alley cats

 aren't really his friends.  

They aren't kind and sweet like Emily.

  And Mr. Pusskins starts to feel cold and alone.

Mr. Pusskins misses his old life.  And Emily. 

So he finds a way to contact her.

The two get reunited!

The story ends with Mr. Pusskins having a major attitude improvement!

He appreciates his fine home and loving owner, and  

he becomes a happy and sweet cat.

At least most of the time.

I love the funny images in this book 

(especially those of Mr. Pusskins' grouchy face!)

 and I like the book's underlying message of learning to appreciate what you have.

It was a hit with my group and I can confidently recommend it for yours!

If you'd like to combine this book with a writing activity or a unit you may be doing on Pets, you may want to download this FREE worksheet.

Just click {here} to pick up your copy!

If you know someone else who might like this post, please pass it on to a friend!

I'm linking this book to Deanna Jump's 
Let's Talk About Books Series. 
Join up for more ideas!

Cats and Dogs in the Classroom? Yes! All "Stuffed" Versions Welcome!

This past week we had a bring your "stuffed" pet 

to school day. 

We had quite a variety of creatures - everything from giant snakes, to monkeys, to your every day puppies and cats.

The children all had a chance to introduce their "pet" to the class at circle time.  It was interesting to note how the pets names changed throughout the day. :)

At the craft table, we made collars and name tags for the pets.  

Here's our friend, Twigs the giraffe, with his sparkly new collar and tag.

The supplies I put out for this activity included:  

• strips of bristol board for the collar (I created long strips that could be cut to size for each stuffy)
• oval and/or heart shaped tags cut from bristol board
• piece of pipe cleaner for attaching the tag to the collar (I created a hole in the tag with a hole puncher)
• stickers, sequins, and felts to decorate the tag and collar
• round sticky velcro dots to attach to the ends of the collar (optional, but it's a nice touch when the collar can open and close)
• pieces of yarn for a "leash" to attach to the collar

After the pets were all suited up, the children took them for walks (i.e. slides) around the classroom.

They also stopped at our Pet Shop (see post HERE) to buy them treats.

And they made little homes for them with blankets and boxes. 

At the end of the day, we dropped all the pets on top of our parachute for a trampoline ride.  The stuffies tended to bunch in the middle as we bounced them, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Then we treated the pets to a parachute game of ring around the rosy.  

Did you have a fun day at preschool Bunny?  I think so!

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How Much is that Doggy in the Window? Set up a Pet Store in Your Classroom!

Our PET theme has been lots of fun for the kids this week.  

Part of the fun came from the PET STORE we set up in the dramatic play area.

This sign for the shop was a bit of a quick one (plus my felts were running out, as usual!), but it still helps set the stage for the shop.

My co-teacher and I both have pets so we raided our cupboards and closets to find extra leashes, bones, dog treats, and other paraphernalia to sell at the shop.

And here's our store - open for business!

As you will note on the shelves under the sign, we included a collection of animals to sell. 

 As long as my daughter doesn't check her toy box this week, I should be fine! :)

Here is a closer shot of some of the goodies we laid out.

Note:  You may just want to give the children a reminder not to eat the dog food.  

We had a couple of curious kids give the bones and treats a few licks!

Here you'll see our collection of "doggy bags."

When setting up the shop, we had joked about crumpling some brown paper and leaving it on the floor for the children to put in the bags (teaching good citizenship!), but in the end we decided that might not be appropriate. 

So...the bags were used for shopping!  

The balls were used for playing fetch and roll.

And the leashes and pet crate were used for walking their new pet friends around the classroom.  

Stay tuned for next week's dramatic play centre

 - Vet's office!

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Attention Cat Lovers - Here's an Easy Cat Craft and Story that Your Kids Will Love!

I love animals and so doing a PETS Theme in our preschool class is a must!  

There's lots of fun activities, stories, and songs to go with this theme AND it gives you an opportunity to talk about how animals should be treated.  

(I volunteer at animal shelters so being kind to animals is a topic near and dear to my heart!)

If you are doing a Pet theme, you may want to try this easy and fun CAT craft with your class. 

 I took the photo with the cat lying flat on the table, but it can actually "stand up" since the body has two sides folded like a card.  

All you need for this craft are:

• body and head cut-outs similar to those shown below
• paper whiskers and a triangle nose
• googly eyes
• markers or bingo dabbers for decorating

     

 Standing Cat Craft - Cute, easy, and lots of fun!

If you'd like a good book featuring a cat to go along with this activity I highly recommend, 

"The Cat Came Back." 

 I have the version by Bill Slavin featured in the image below.

  

I like this book because the pictures are cute and you can "sing" the story.  

 The tune is catchy and the children usually pick up the chorus pretty quickly.   

At the end of the story, I just make a point to mention how "we"don't try to give our pets away like Mr. Johnson does!  

If you don't want to miss any ideas and freebies from Teach Easy Resources Blog,

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