Dog Days: Rhymes Around the Year

by Jack Prelutsky, Dyanna Wolcott (Illustrator)

I am a dog who scribbles rhymes
About my many happy times.
I wrote this book to make it clear
That I have fun around the year.

Learning about the 12 months of the year is more fun than ever with Jack Prelutsky’s rhymes and Dyanna Wolcott’s illustrations. Told and pictured from a dog’s point of view, this bright little book makes you want to kick up your heels and be a dog for a day!

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 1999

About the author

Jack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.

Reviews

[Frankie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun way to learn the months of the year! As a dog lover, enjoyed it even more....silly pictures of dogs doing things they don't always do. Very cute book we found at our library.

[Rachel Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of poems that focuses on the months of the year. Each poem is about one specific month of the year but they are related to dogs and their activities during that month. As a child this was always one of my favorite books. I loved the silly pictures and I loved that it was all about dogs. I think this book would keep the interest of children because its witty and silly in a way but is informative to the seasons and weather and month. The language in this book is very simple but some of it rhymes which is important for children because they love that! the color and images are very whimsical which makes the book physically appealing and more likely to picked by a child than a more simple book.

[Sierra Dirksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the different activities a dog does throughout the year, such as dig up dirt in the garden. The book has colorful pictures and each month has four lines. Two lines describe the month and two lines describe the activity. Overall, I liked this book and believe my nephew would like it to. It is a fun book to read to a child.

[Kylee Champlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of poems that follows dogs through the months of the year and the activities that follow the dogs' activities. This is a good book that will help with students and their rhyming. This could also be used to read aloud or with partners to practice reading aloud.

[susan nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

use with other dog books and dog craft for Fri afternoon K storytime and craft

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute rhyming poem book about dogs. It has a poem about dogs for each month of the year.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dog Days is a poetry composition, which can also serve as a concept book about the seasons, and for that reason, also a science reference. I greatly enjoyed the four line poem and accompanying illustration for each of the four seasons. The poems are told from the perspective of the dogs, who explain their likes and activities of the month, pertaining to the season or expected weather. These dogs only exhibit two instances of personification in the book, when they are illustrated playing a musical instrument, or when they are dressed up for Halloween.
The pencil and paint illustrations were bright and appealing. Some pictures were of a close scene, some were of large areas, which held my attention, and kept reading interesting. I enjoyed the relationships shown in the book between the dogs and their owners. This book is a wonderful read-aloud or would make a great addition to a classroom library!

[Courtney Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Reaction:
My favorite part of this book was the adorable illustrations by Dyanna Wolcott. This book is set up in the months, and each month had a different theme. It depicted the dogs in each setting and some even made me laugh. My favorite illustration was the dogs in October. There were several different types of dogs trick-or-treating in fun halloween costumes.

Purpose:
This book would be good for first graders. It would be good as a short read-aloud. This book has many purposes that would be good for the classroom. First of all it is light-hearted because it is all about dogs and the kids will love the illustrations. Next, it teaches the months all in order so children can learn the different months of a year. lastly, it talks about the weather and some of the important events that happening each month around the year including snow in January, flowers in April, Halloween in October, and Thanksgiving in November.

[Hannah Evilsizor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains one poem for every month of the year. It is meant for younger students such as preschool or kindergarten. the poems in the book contain rhyme and rhythm. I would use this book at the beginning of circle every month. I think that would be a good way to include poetry while also making the connection between the months. Each of the poems contain an activity that the dog likes to do. We could talk about the activities that they might do during that month, and what the weather is like then. I also really enjoy the pictures in this book. They are painted with very bright colors and would appeal to young students.

[Michelle Rosales · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a rhyming poetry book that tells the life of one dog all year round. The children have a fun way to learn about the 12 months because the dog playfully describes what he is doing each month. All the poems rhyme, which makes it fun for the reader. The colorful illustrations by Dyanna Wolcott help tell the story of what the dog does each month. On of my favorite poems is the October one, where the dog is dressed up for Halloween. It is humorous and the pictures are fun as well as comical.

[La'shae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this poetry filled book because of its simplicity. This is a great book for teaching students how not only to write poetry but to rhyme. The book also provides a great activity for the beyond portion of a lesson because it is designed around the months of the year. A teacher could ask students to come up with a poem for each month of the year like the dog in the book.

[Leah Sidell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dog Days is book filled with fun rhymes about a dog and what he likes to do each month of the year. It's a great book for kindergartners or 1st grade to learn about the twelve months of the year. For an activity students can write a poem or a song for each month and present to the class. Students can also learn the spelling of each month by going over them during morning meetings.

[Nancy Jo Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am doing an author study slash poetry cafe and station exploration with the kids at my school for National Poetry month. This is one of the books I am using for this activity. I enjoy Jack Prelutsky's poems because they are easy to read and understand and also fun!

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of six collections of children's poems by Prelutsky that I've read in the past couple days.

[Gabriel Dubransky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This funny dog has written many rhymes about all his good times that he's had among the year.

[Morgan Miller]

Great easy rhyming poetry for K-1.