Big Dog... Little Dog

Fred and Ted

by P.D. Eastman

Meet best friends Fred (Big Dog) and Ted (Little Dog) in P. D. Eastman’s classic Beginner Book. Though one is big and one is little, and one loves green and one loves red, these pup pals—along with their helpful acquaintance, Bird—prove that opposites can be the very best of friends.

Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Dogs, Spanish Literature, Kids

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Philip Dey "Phil" Eastman was an American screenwriter, children's author, and illustrator. As an author, he is known primarily as P. D. Eastman. A protégé of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Eastman wrote many books for children, in his own distinct style under the Dr. Seuss brand of Random House, many of which were in the Beginner Books series.

From 1936 to 1941, Eastman worked at the story department of Walt Disney Productions. From 1941 to 1943 he worked at the story department of Warner Bros. Cartoons. From 1945 to 1952 he worked in the story department of United Productions of America. He contributed to the "Private Snafu" World War II training films, wrote for the animation Mr. Magoo, and the Gerald McBoing-Boing series for UPA.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read this Eastman book as a child. It’s a great beginning book about differences and prepositions. It reminds me a lot of “Inside, Outside, Upside down”. It goes over simple words that my niblings would call sight words. It’s fun while reading

Tall dog and small dog. It’s silly, but the artwork is cozy and warms the heart. The dogs are like the things associated with them. Little dog Ted likes red and little things and big dog Fred likes green and tall things. They do go snow skiing and they make you want to go skiing. They also make sleeping look cozy. I loved this story.

The nephew picked this book out. He thought the dogs were rather funny. A bird also shows up in the end. The nephew said, it could have been much funnier, but he liked the story. He gave it 3 stars.

The best line is the birds at the end and it says, “Why make big problems out of little problems?” That sounds pretty smart to me. Good advice to end a story on.

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between my oldest grandson and granddaughter, I thought we had read all the board books, but I am discovering a few that we missed! This past weekend my youngest grandson (14 months) pulled this one out and I read it for the first time to him. It's along the lines of How Joe the Bear and Sam the Mouse Got Together. Here, two very different dogs, Ted and Fred, explore their differences as young children learn about opposites. In the end, they just need a little bird to tell them how to resolve a bed sizing issue. Cute!

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featured in grandma reads session.

Fred and Ted, those snappy characters best illustrating in dog form "Big" and "little", are happily best friends. Throughout their adventures they show that friendships easily allows differences, tolerates and is better for a variety of activities and preferences, and widens the information pool when it comes to troubleshooting problems.

PD Eastman. An absolute favorite. Stating the obvious in a delightful way that even the baby gets.

5 stars.

[AleJandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yo le pensaba dar 2 estrellas, pero mi niña dijo que 5. Asi que lo deje en un término medio, 3 ESTRELLAS.

Aunque no creo que la opinión de mi hija sea objetiva, a diferencia de sus otros libros que ha calificado, ya que este libro se lo regalo su abuelita el día del niño. Asi que para ella el libro tiene una carga de cariño extra.

Me encanta que tenga libros en español y este libro es muy lindo y divertido. Ya habíamos leído Go, Dog Go . Asi que ya estábamos familiarizadas con las ilustraciones y el estilo de prosa.

Repetición, repetición y muchos adjetivos para alimentar el vocabulario de los niños.

Es la edición bilingüe, y la verdad no me gustó nada la traducción al español, ¿en serio traductores “los cuartos altos”?

Bueno la verdad últimamente me he vuelto una odiosa de las traducciones, así que no me hagan mucho caso.

[Alex Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fred and Ted are two dog friends who, despite superficial differences - one is tall, the other short, one likes red, the other green - share an apparent disdain for pants. The two of them go on a skiing holiday together, where their obvious romantic feelings for each other bubble beneath the surface. But societal pressure, in the form of a c-ckblocking bird, forces them to sleep in separate rooms. This is the best gay love story since Brokeback Mountain.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ted and Fred are opposites in many ways, but are still best of friends. After belaboring their differences for most of the book a silly little problem is introduced at the end regarding restless sleep but is quickly resolved

Huh? So?

This just doesn't have the charm or energy or purpose of Eastman's better books.

[Trevor Wetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book “Big Dog … Little Dog.” This book has been my favorite ever since I was very little. The story starts off by introducing the big dog and the little dog, Fred and Ted. It describes the two dogs, saying what they like, what characteristics they have and what they do. Fred and Ted then go to a trip to a mountain. Ted skied all day long and Fred skated all day long. Then, they go to sleep in a small hotel but, neither of them can sleep because Fred’s bed is too small and Ted’s bed is too big. Fred and Ted went for a walk the next day and talked about their problems. A bird overhears their conversation and gives them a solution to their problem, switch beds. Fred and Ted switch beds and sleep comfortably for the rest of the day. The message that the author is trying to get through is to not make big problems out of little problems.

The characters in this story are Ted and Fred. Ted is a little dog that is always broke, plays the tuba, loves beets and the color red, and drives fast. Fred is a big dog that always has money, plays the flute, loves spinach and the color green, and drives slow. The author does a great job of describing this random information of Ted and Fred.

The setting is not a big factor in the story and is not described very well. The author does not care to describe the setting because it does not contribute much to the story.

I would recommend this book to absolutely anybody. Any reader, or listener, will enjoy this book. I have enjoyed it for my whole life. It is a great little story that anyone can fall in love with. It is a great story.

[Kate prefers books to people · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this at the library to read with my toddler. The older kids ended up joining us and enjoyed the book. There are a lot of opposites (tall/short, wet/dry) and differences (spinach vs beets, skating vs skiing). Both friends have a sleepless night at the small hotel because the big dog has a small bed and the small dog has a big bed. Someone suggests they switch and they get a whole day of rest.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at that high community rating! I'll have to read fans' reviews after I read the book.
---
Well, first I had to read the full book. My library gave me the board book, which was no more than 1/4 the story. Do not waste your time with the board book! Fortunately it's avl. as an ebook so I read it from another library... and loved it! It's not just about the theme explicated by the bird, not to make big problems out of small problems. It's also a funny exploration of opposites and of having adventures with friends.

Probably too simple for curmudgeonly adults, but my inner child loved it and I think that I would have read it a hundred times as a child, even after growing too old for it.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lived at Gramma's house when I was growing up, so I can't read about Ted and Fred without being flooded with memories of my own childhood! These dogs are witty and clever. A funny story about Big Dog...Little Dog: This book lived only in our collective memory for many years. My sister and I were almost convinced we were making it up, because no one seemed to know about it. Then, the weekend of my brother's wedding we were discussing it and asked if anyone knew about Ted and Fred. Jeff, one of Kevin's groomsmen, a fellow football player outweighing everyone in the room by 150 pounds said: "Sure, Ted and Fred. Big dogs need big beds, little dogs need little beds." As if he had just put it down.

[Grace Huey · Rating 5 out of 5]

No help needed: sign, mountains, moaned, groaned, morning, none, jumped, upstairs, downstairs, little, problems

Help needed: spinach, skated, tossed, crashed, thrashed

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me lo leí para practicar inglés jajaja

[Tyler Wetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response: I read this book to my little brother who loved it. This use to be my favorite book when I was younger. My brother and I both agreed that this book should be rated five stars.

Plot summary: The plot of this book is that there are who are very different. One is big one is little. One likes green one likes red. One likes to go fast one likes to go slow, ETC. These two dogs just go along there day saying what they like and its always different. The only thing that is the same about these two dogs is the fact there dogs.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to anybody, this book is just great. Older people should read it to younger people just to see the younger person smile. everybody please read this book.

[Emerson and Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two friends--Ted and Fred--are different: one big, one small, one fast, one slow, one skates, one skis. They are good friends and nothing is really made of their differences until their sleeping arrangements get mixed up! So I guess you could say that it teaches a lesson about accepting our differences. The Eastman books follow in the Dr. Seuss tradition but they are never quite as genius as a true Seuss. But they are VERY good.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like dogs

[Holly Ducarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little family enjoys the Fred and Ted stories. Two friends who are both dogs but have their differences, who go on fun adventures together and even go through frustrations that have simple solutions. The illustrations are cozy and nostalgic. This is a go-to read.

[sincerely]

Perfect independent reading for my 6 year old

[Hezekiah Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love finding all the red and green cars and screaming “KAHHH KAHHHH”

[Brianna Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

B loved it. He reads it out loud to himself.

[gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

too effing cute

[ryan wilkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love fred and ted! they may be different in a lot of ways, but so similar at the same time! great way to show kids that we can be different from others, but still find common ground.

[Tim Hackbarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Dog, Little dog is an anthropomorphic book that explore two friends and their ability to solve problems on their daily adventures.

The dogs are living in regular human situations which is why I classify it as anthropomorphic. Fred and Ted go on several adventures. The difficulty comes because they have a size disparity as the title indicates. They also like opposite things. The conclusion of the book poses a problem that cannot solve without a third party (a bird).

Big Dog, Little Dog is a great book for teaching children contrast and comparison. I believe it also teaches how friendship can thrive even if the friends disagree. It is a book that teaches how to use each other's resources to solve problems. This book could be used with a math lesson on space or size comparisons. It could also be used with a color lesson as well since one dog uses red and one uses green. In addition it help children determine the severity of the problem. The language is simple and the difference between the friends is made very clear and simple by identifying their favorite colors and using them to paint differences. I would use this book in K-2 grade.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite of "the Dog series."

5/14/14 Read this in my "Miss Heidi's Mom" preschool themed storytime. A lot of the kids were excited for the book because they had it at home. They liked telling me what the opposites were. I pointed out a few other things and overall the book went very well. The kids really liked it, which is nice considering how very simple it is as a story.

4/13/15 Read in Movement storytime. Had tiny crowds of very young kids, but this still worked for them.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our son received this as a hand-me-down from his cousins. They read the book so many times that their mom, who is now sending one of them off to college, knew to say 'FRED AND TED' to me when I made a passing reference to it.

All I can tell you is he loves this book as much as they did. It was worn down to one staple in its spine by them, doodled with crayon craziness, and maybe part of why my son likes it so much is he feels his cousins' love for it leaping from the pages. I feel that.

So, the kid loves it. I love its simple and sweet message.

[Lara Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great story about two dogs who are different as can be but are friends who get along despite their differences. They ran into a little problem while they were trying to spend the night at a hotel together, they each had beds that were the wrong size for them but with the help of a friend they figure out that if they just switch beds their problems could be solved. This would be a good book to show kids good problem solving skills and that they should accept each others differences.

[Nichole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just very meh.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story: 2 stars
Illustrations: 3 stars

This is mostly a picture book of opposites, though some of the pairings are not opposites, but merely different items (flute vs tuba, skiing vs skating, spinach vs beets, red vs green). The story line is slight and the conflict is introduced more than halfway into the book, then solved by an observer who appears on only a few pages rather than by one or both of the two main characters.

The bold illustrations help depict the opposites/differences. Some of the pages are divided into panels, with gutters in between, to highlight the contrasts.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. A short, simple parallel story about two different dogs who tend to do and be opposite things. They go stay in a little hotel, but the long dog gets the short bed and the short dog gets the long bed. Luckily a bird advises them to switch so they can get some rest.

I just love the simplicity of this story. I could read it over and over.

[Ms. Arca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.75? because really two dogs that are opposites is just cute to me..I’d read another book about this duo, I can’t help that I find them cute with their little shirts with their names on them ! The rest of the book was just ok, it seemed like it couldn’t exactly decide what it wanted to be or what the tempo / arc would be.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

They are totally different yet they are friends!!!

We couldn't quite understand why Little Dog did not like his huge bed. A big bed is never bad!