Be Gentle With the Dog, Dear!

by Matthew J. Baek

A wonderfully witty take on playing nice, from a fresh and funny new talent.

Baby Elisa loves Tag, the family dog. She loves to squeeze him, and pull his tail, and tackle him. Tag loves Elisa too—especially when she’s sleeping. Elisa’s parents tell her, “You must be gentle with the dog, dear.” But this is easier said than done. What’s a good dog to do?

With spare, pithy text and laugh-out-loud illustrations, debut author/illustrator Matthew J. Baek brilliantly captures the warmth, frustration, and rampant comedy of life with a toddler and the object of her delight. Whether the pursued or the pursuer, any kid with a pet or sibling will love this tale of two characters who share a true regard, and learn— with much hilarity along the way—the right way to show it.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and definitely relatable. To wit: we had to send my elderly cat to a retirement home (my parents' house) because she was suffering from incessant chasing by preschoolers. They get visitation.

[Zequoia Hyche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Be Gentle with the Dog, Dear by Baek to my Preschool class and they were so engaged in this book. It was my first time reading it too and I absolutely found it enjoyable to read. I liked how the story focuses on being gentle. We tell children to be gentle with each other or to use "gentle hands" when playing with friends or anyone; and although the book portrayed the feelings of the dog, as a teacher we could flip it and make it more personal. This book could place an emphasis on the kind of behavior we would like to see modeled in our classroom. This was a great and informative children's book!

[Cass Mabbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical! This book illustrates why we had to rescue our Italian Greyhound from a family with a 4-year old. I LOVE the illustraions of the dog when the baby is squeezing him. The text and illustrations work very well together.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only way this book could be more perfect would be if the baby's name was Lola.

[Adelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sweet, gentle book has a similar feeling to the Leslie Patricelli board books, but at the next stage, with complete sentences for preschoolers or young readers. The illustrations are precious and funny ("funny because it's so true" kind of thing). The ending is heartwarming, and the final two spreads and the endpaper practically serve as a sequel and had me guffawing. Pointing out what happens afterwards provides a great opportunity for conversation with the child you are reading to.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tag is a lap dog, but toddler Elisa doesn't treat him as one. She squeezes him, pulls his tail, and tackles him. Although Tag knows this is how she expresses her love for him, he is miserable, but when she takes his favorite toy he can't take anymore. Elisa soon learns a valuable lesson on being gentle with the dog, but the cat is a different story.

[Michelle (MichellesBookishLife)]

Baby Elise loves Tag, the family dog, so much that she squeezes him and pulls his tail. This is her way of showing him love, but she doesn’t realize that she is too rough with him. Her parents have to teach her to be gentle, but it’s not easy. Will Tag ever feel some relief?

[LoveBug BookClub · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a lovely little story about a toddler learning how to behave with the family pets. The language is very simple so young readers can understand. The pictures are adorable.

Watch Johanna and Leeanne read this book on their YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/5P3WKlTizVo

[skcocnaH · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Really cute ending. True to life too. I just don’t like what Baek does with the cheeks though.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure Wayne got the message, but what's new with a toddler?

[Caitlin Barclay]

This story can be read as an introduction for children on how to pet and care for a dog. Classroom pets are always exciting but often times there needs to be an understanding of how to treat the pet. Instead of ANOTHER list of rules, reading a story about the pet or pets in general, allows the students to see an example and sometimes even an insight of how the pet may feel about being taken care of.
This book also has many characteristics that can allow students to learn about the purpose of a text and how it is written. The title of the book is written in a speech bubble indicating that it is something that someone is saying. This is often found in comic strips and is a way for students to make connections and to realize what a speech bubble actually is. The author uses elipses which provides an opportunity for teachers to have students guess what these are for. The illustrator also made some words in different fonts and size indicating a loader or exciting tone. Again, this book provides a purpose for reading since it is telling the readers how to pet a dog.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful cautionary tale for toddlers and dogs alike. Both Elisa the baby and Tag the dog learn that a dog can handle only so much squeezing, pulling, and toy snatching before he is forced to put his paw down. A great story for families with toddlers and dogs trying to learn to live together happily, though the cat lovers of the world might be a bit concerned when they see the last page!

[Amy Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be Gentle with the dog, dear and teaching students to be text users is a lesson teachers can incorporate in the classroom. A text user knows about the purpose and the form of texts. Knowledge of different texts like newspapers is critical in the world outside of the classroom. This book uses words written in a different way like in bold or large to emphasize a certain point. By using this book students become more and more familiar as text user.

[Beckie Coldiron · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Be Gentle With the Dog Dear" is a cute story that highlights how you should treat a dog when you encounter one. I would LOVE to have an animal pet day in my classroom, which is when I would read this story to my class. Sometimes children aren't able to respond when they hear, " Don't touch a dog like this..." However, when a child is able to see the "rules" come alive in a book it makes it much more relevant and applicable.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good to teach the students about being gentle with the animals. If the students are having hard time controlling themselves in front on an animal or have a field trip in the zoo, this book will be perfect to read with them. They will understand what is the proper behavior when they want to pet a dog. Even if they know how to behave, it is always good to read books that will focus on their positive behaviors.

[Janet Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice simply book to read to the kids but it teaches a very valuable lesson. Kids can read this book to learn how to treat animals and they might find it interesting because it sort of shows you how the dog feels about the kid in the book every time she comes around. Very nice illustrations that capture your attention too as you read the book. I would read this book to my classroom if we were introducing a class pet or anything along those lines.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this book! I have a 2 1/2 year old and 2 dogs, so I feel like this is my son's biography! The illustrations are terrific, although I can't figure out what medium he uses. It's a very cute book, we've read it about 100 times since we brought it home from the library the other day and I'm still not sick of it! My son always laughs when the dog growls at Alisa for stealung his toy, he likes to go, "Grrrrr!"

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

New baby Elisa likes Tag the family dog. Maybe a little too much. She squeezes him too hard, sits on him, pulls his tail...

Tag draws the line when she steals his favorite toy. That does it! GRRRRRR!!! Dad comes running and reminds Elisa to "be gentle with the dog dear." Elisa finally learns to be gentle with Tag. But there's the cat. Hmmmmm...

A good story for young children in a house with pets.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book. Children have to be taught they must be gentle with animals. Good lesson. The part I disagree with is that it is okay for a dog to growl in this case. Biting or snapping follows growling so it should not be allowed. I don't think the dog growling would teach a child to be gentle. It might not even frighten him at that young age and biting is what would happen next.
The story until that time was sweet and the illustrations are cozy and cute.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn't necessarily the way to do it. The main character is a toddler, not a five-year-old, and her intentions are mostly good. But it was a good way to open up the conversation. And I hope that after many children seemed to agree with me that it was wrong to be too rough with animals it will make a difference. If I were her parents, I would find the cat a new home and make it clear every step of the way that it was because she chose to be cruel to the animal again and again and again.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious picture book. Good reading material for the toddler audience.
It's about a dog named Tag who goes through the affections of Precious, the baby. And when I say affection - I mean pulling tail, squeezing, etc. This is so realistic of how babies react to new things - they touch things or learn about things with all of their might.

[Auttumn C]

A wonderful, simple book on doggy manners for children. I cannot wait to have the opportunity to use this book in my classroom when a doggy visitor comes it. I also think this would be a great book for parents to read before a new dog is brought into the house as a new family member. Children need to be reminded of the importance of having manners around not only people but dogs as well.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some people are going to go "awww". But I am rolling my eyes at the typical fatuous parents who don't physically get their little beast the hell away from the dog. And I hope that the cat gives this kid whatfor when she pulls its tail...

[Brandi]

This is a perfect book for you to read if you have a toddler and a poor helpless dog who is tortured daily by the little monster. This is a really cute quick read and great to read to the little one.

[Ashlee Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be good for introducing a new pet to the home or the classroom. It would also be a good book to read when going on a field trip that centers around animals. It is a good way to show children how to be gentle with them.

[Raven Grider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be Gentle with the Dog, Dear would be great to use before the class got a class pet. The book shows how a child should treat an animal through the perspective of the pet. Great for younger elementary grades!

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good easy read for a pre-k student on how to treat a dog. This book could be related to a pet at home, and how it should be treated or related to a classroom pet. The effect of the text throughout the book is also enjoyable and unique.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good story which is easy to follow in content and illustrations on how to treat a dog. During storytime I was concerned with one part of the story thinking the dog might have bitten the baby, luckily this was not the case. The preschool kids enjoyed the book very much during storytime.

[Michele Stalmer]

This is a great book to read if you were doing a unit on pets. The simple and humorous text makes it easy to help children with the concept of how to take care of a pet and be responsible in doing so.

[Bon Koo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally can relate to this book. My daughter loves our cat but the cat is having a nervous break-down when ever she's around. I think the book captures the situation well.