Carl's Afternoon in the Park

Good Dog, Carl #4

by Alexandra Day

Carl, the baby, and a new puppy spend an eventful afternoon in the park, riding on a carousel, romping in the flowers, and visiting a children's zoo.

The Carl board books are sure to be baby's best friends!

Titles in this
Carl Goes Shopping
Carl's Christmas
Carl's Afternoon in the Park
Carl's Masquerade
Carl Goes to Daycare
Carl's Birthday

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Dogs, Classics, Juvenile

36 pages, Board Book

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Alexandra Day, the beloved creator of Good Dog, Carl, is the literary persona of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling—an artist and storyteller devoted to the deep, joyful connection between children and animals. The beloved children's book author, Alexandra Day, is the literary persona of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling, an artist and storyteller passionate about connecting children and animals.

Born in 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Alexandra Day emerged from a creative family where painting was a cherished pastime. Four formative years on a hundred-acre Kentucky farm nurtured her deep connection to animals and literature, fostering the seeds of her future artistic vision.

Day and her husband, Harold Darling, founded Green Tiger Press in 1970, marking the beginning of their publishing adventure. Her breakthrough came in 1985 with Good Dog, Carl, a book inspired by an antique German illustration she discovered in a Zurich bookshop. The story was based on her own Rottweiler, Toby, and featured her granddaughter, Madeleine, as the baby.

Over the past four next three decades, Day has published twenty-four Carl books, selling more than six million copies. The series, featuresing a gentle Rottweiler caring for a baby and their adventures, is a beloved staple of children's literature. Beyond Carl, she also created the Frank and Ernest series, The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, and many other books.

After selling Green Tiger Press in 1986, Day and Harold started Blue Lantern Publishing. In 1993, they moved to Seattle and founded Laughing Elephant Publishing. Following Harold's passing in 2016, Day continues to run the company with her family.

When not painting Carl or working at her publishing company, Day can be found spending time with her grandchildren and tending her garden. Alexandra Day often visits libraries and schools with her dogs, promoting reading and the benefits of therapy animals. Her life's work celebrates the magical bond between children, animals, and storytelling.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of negligent women leave a large dog to supervise an infant and a puppy in a public park while they head off to have tea.

Fortunately, Carl is up to the task, and fun is had by all.

Oh, and this is where I learned that Carl's owner's name is Sarah. The baby's name of Madeleine is mentioned in Carl Goes to Daycare.

#1507 in our old book database. Rated "Good" by Rod and Adelia.

[Colleen Chi-Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy this one in hardback and hand it down through the generations. It's all in the illustrations, a story of this amazing and tender hearted dog, Carl. We all love and want a Carl.

[Tammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the mother in this book is extremely irresponsible. Thank goodness for the dog, or who knows what would have happened to that baby!

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one I read while I was waiting for the Offspring to finish browsing. Carl is adorable. I enjoy the adventures he and the babies get up to when no one is looking.

Library copy.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not certain but I just have a gut feeling this was my first Carl book. Either that or I just really enjoyed this one. The park the book takes place in seemed like the park to end all parks with the amount of stuff they do there. One of my top favorites in the series.

[Amara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now Carl has a puppy to look after, too? This family is really taking the piss.

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2022

2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother

Pretty illustrations, but leaving a baby alone in a park is problematic

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is absolutely beautiful and touching, practically no words but the art makes up for it

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time Carl must watch Baby AND a puppy. My favorite scenes were the petting zoo and painters in the park.

[Nina Fitz Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl’s Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day

What do you think of a book with almost no words? Carl’s Afternoon in the Park, by Alexandra Day, tells a story with illustrations alone (it has a few words at the beginning and the end), and it is a perfect book for children who are very young language learners, and because there are almost no words, it is easily adapted to any language. We were introduced to Carl when my eldest daughter was two years old, and right away she adored this book with its gorgeous illustrations about a sweet rottweiler dog who loves his family more than anything else. The beautiful impressionistic illustrations are colorful and full of tiny details that tell a story and encourage children to practice language as they discuss the pictures. All the pages together tell the story of Carl, the nanny rottweiler, as he takes his charges (a child and a puppy) through an afternoon in the park. They visit the carousel, the garden, the animal farm, the balloon man, and much more before Carl decides it’s time to go and find mama. Each beautiful picture is full of things to discuss, and mom or dad can help their child discover the story with a few easy questions:

What is Carl doing now?
Where is the baby?
What color are these balloons?
What animals can you see?

Little by little the story gets discovered as children are excited to find Carl, the baby, and the puppy on each page and describe what they are doing. There is so much to talk about in each picture, that children never get bored with this book and ask for it again and again, only to discover something new with every reading. Happily, Alexandra Day illustrated and wrote quite a few books about Carl, so if your child likes this one, more Carl books are readily available on Amazon. (Here I would like to emphasize the power of books in a series to all parents who want to raise readers: if you get your child hooked on one book, they are very likely to be interested in the next, and suddenly they are asking for one book after another.) Happy reading from the Itinerant Librarian in Costa Rica!

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl heads to the park and spends a day with his baby while mom is away having tea. Fun ensues. This time a puppy is included because sequels have to add characters to keep people intrigued, I suppose.

Moral: Dogs can be trusted with babies, even at parks.

Length: Only two pages feature words, but there are unlimited possibilities at the park.

Favorite Line: “I hope you three didn’t get bored!”

Overall impression: I wish our dog would behave this well at a park. My favorite page to look at is the one that features Carl and Baby posing for artists in the park. It reminded me of my own time in New York City at Central Park. This calming board book is sure to have your baby wanting their dog to take them to a zoo as well.

[Victoria DeJesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did not win any awards. The appropriate grade level is Pre-k to K. The book is about two friends who run into each other. They go for a walk and one of the mom's leave her puppy and baby with Carl (who is the puppy's parent). The books goes through pictures of their day. This book was a really cute one. I liked the idea of the baby and puppy having an amazing bond with Carl. The pictures were fantastic. A possible use of this book in the class would be when you are teaching about different families because just because you are not with your blood parents doesn't mean you can't have a good bond with someone else.

[Kyle Hamlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a unique kind of art with it. I enjoy the dog being in charge and showing the different kinds of activities that they go on throughout the day. The book also involves a puppy which is the dogs and shows the puppy and the baby interacting in a very positive way. This book is a fun read and can be good for teachers to let the kids explain what is happening in the story and what has been going on. The activities that the group goes on are very non traditional for a dog to do which makes this book more of a fun read. This book shows a great use of personification where the dog would act as the child's parent in certain events.

[Charity Yost Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like all the Carl books we've read so far and how the illustrations tell the story more than the words. I also like the way they place a kinder light on a stereotyped breed of dogs. These storylines do encourage mischief; however, I'll keep renting Day's books from the library because the illustrations are gorgeous and my boys sit and watch me turn the pages as if they are watching a video.

[Danielle T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my childhood books, so I should probably mark it as read in 1995 or some such. Mostly without words (only the first and last pages have dialogue from the mother), Carl the dog takes Baby and Puppy on a day out to the park, where they go to the zoo, get ice cream, and join a painting group- a very busy afternoon.

[Lynnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illustrations are beautiful and well done. I don't mind wordless books and I think when my 15 month old is talking more wordless books will be great. But I don't like how mischievous the dog and the baby are in the series. It's also super unrealistic like who leaves their dog to babysit a toddler and a puppy? I don't mind fanciful but there is a line.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl’s owner leaves Carl in charge of watching his girl, who is a toddler, in this book and the puppy while she and a friend go to gt some tea. I always felt the owner lacked some skills in the parenting department, but Car definitely has it handled.

[Christina Baranczyk]

Minimal words for the book. Decent pictures so the class and I can create our own stories by looking at the pictures.i didn’t like the fact that the adults in the store neglected a baby, a puppy, and a dog in a busy park while they were off sipping on tea.

[sylas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book makes my kid LOL every time. Total winner.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute wordless book the illustrations are beautiful.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really funny book that is mostly wordless!!

[Kelley Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, so we had a rottweiler and a cute baby girl who loved her dog. The warm illustrations and lack of words make this series a favorite amongst my dog-loving patrons.

[Zahra · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستانی کوتاه اما پر از نکات آموزنده👌

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl and a puppy need I say more.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/27/20 Read with Naomi and Julia

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

We absolutely loved this (almost) wordless picture book about the trusty dog, Carl, and the naughty puppy and adorable baby as they adventure through the park

[Marsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was very engaging to my 18 month grandchild. I wish it came in a board book version.

[Grandma M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that they leave Carl to babysit.

[Viviana]

Nature art iss lovely! ..the human faces r a bit off, though. The story's a lil weird, too heh

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl, the dog is left to care for and watch over a child and puppy while the women humans have a spot of tea in the park.