A Day with Dogs: What Do Dogs Do All Day?

by Dorothée de Monfreid (Illustrator)

Dogs in cars, dogs on skis, dogs at the doctor. What do dogs do all day? This rich, playful book features a cast of funny dog characters living everyday lives.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Childrens, Animals

61 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely drawings of different dog breeds on extra sturdy pages. Nice bright colours and clear labelling of everyday settings. Reminiscent of Richard Scary and great for dog loving children but the topics chosen seemed unconnected, more of a theme needed I think.

[Figgy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual Rating 2.5

Things that this book has going for it:
- It’s cute
- It explores daily activities but in a cute way, with dogs and the main characters
- There are pages within that include counting exercises, the alphabet, and the mixing of primary colours to create secondary colours
- It has common, everyday items for young readers to find
- It’s not something you see every day
- It has nice sturdy pages without them being that thick, board book type
- It’s a little bit Richard Scarry

Things this reviewer didn’t like about this book:
- It’s a little all over the place, what with the switching from daily activities to counting and listing animals, colours, names, types of transport, and so on
- It doesn’t seem to know exactly what it wants to be
- It doesn’t have much of a story to it
- There are depictions of anthropomorphised dogs eating things that are REALLY BAD for dogs to eat

The rest of this review can be found HERE!

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dedicated to Richard Scarry, this book of places and things takes a proverbial page from his book, with the substitution of dogs for Scarry's menagerie of creatures. Dogs at home, splashing in the bathroom, taking the bus to town, at work, walking in the country, take the place of children and all their activities. Words label places and things, and word bubbles add humor. The seasons, food, music, flowers, animals, and the doctor are also covered, the latter showing little dogs with rashes, crutches and a cough. Illustrations look to be done with pen and watercolor, and are busy without being overwhelming. A directory of dogs and their breeds announces the cast of characters. I can imagine dog-loving kids naming the dogs and making up stories of their adventures. Translated from Tout tout sur les toutous, 2015.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dogs of all shapes, sizes, and colors fill the pages of this book, originally published in France. And they don't just sit there on the book's pages looking pretty. No, these canines are active, and young readers will enjoy watching them do their thing at home in a cutaway that shows all the rooms in a house, preparing for school, strolling down the street, heading off on an adventure in the woods or on a mountain, even enjoying all types of music. By the end of the day, the dogs are very tired, and readers have a better idea of how they spend their days. There are a lot of things going on in this book and in their daily existence. It's enough to make even the most active person catch his/her breath. Although I can certainly see many youngsters, especially those who love dogs, enjoying this book, I wish it has been organized differently. Sometimes sections seemed to just appear at random, and the headings that were included didn't necessarily help. I think the author was trying to group certain things associated with a particular activity or place together, and sometimes it worked, but not always. Nevertheless, this book will provide lots of distractions for many young readers who will enjoy pointing to the objects and identifying them over and over. This activity will be enhanced by the fact that the pages are not cluttered, but with abundant white space allowing each object or scene to receive its due.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concept book with all illustrations labeled which makes it good for vocabulary study.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

PreS-Gr 1 - A Day with Dogs is a fun and full vocabulary style picture book similar to the Richard Scarry books. It has no established story; rather, each double spread is filled with captained images relevant to loosely grouped themes based around daily life, including home and school, and things found in the larger world. A plethora of caricatured dog breeds insert themselves into every topic in silly ways, but there are some cases where they are more a token than subject. Pages are absolutely packed with words written in a small, thin black font. This means that the book will only work in a more intimate reading session. Unfortunately the size may prove a minor impediment to the youngest readers. Most of the vocabulary on the other hand, should pose no problems for those just learning to read, although, there are a few tricky ones thrown in to appeal to those at a slightly higher reading level. Appropriate images do accompany every bit of text, but less common things like “cyan” and “chanterelles” may require some extra help. For an added challenge, readers can turn to the "Alphabet" page which lists names, instead of words. VERDICT This silly vocabulary book has a wide range of thematic word lists, that should appeal to children at a good breadth of early reading levels...especially those who love dogs.

*reviewed for School Library Journal

[Baby Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Hello, friends! Our book today is A Day With Dogs by Dorothée de Monfreid, a positively wonderful book of words, letters, numbers and animals for beginning readers.

Follow a motley crew of dogs as they wake up, get ready for the day, visit the city and the countryside, go shopping, prepare meals, and head to bed. On each page is a new setting and subject, labeling the lively illustrations with dozens of worlds for young readers to learn as they explore.

Listen, JJ almost always likes our review book, but it’s worth noting how much she ADORED this one. The intricately detailed and labeled illustrations are inspired by the work of Richard Scarry, and they create the same sort of excitement and interest I remember having when I read his books myself as a little one. JJ was enthralled with each page, which was filled with new and familiar words and concepts to learn. She eagerly pointed to the ones she knew, and just as eagerly asked to have the unfamiliar ones read to her. She was very excited to pour over it long after storytime had ended, and that’s always a good sign. We would highly recommend this to any curious little bookworm, especially a dog-loved. As for us, we’ll be adding it to our home library as soon as possible! Emphatically Baby Bookworm approved!

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Bookrapt (Est. 1983) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do dogs do all day?

This fun discovery book in the style of Richard Scarry will create a lot of interaction between young children and whoever is sharing it with them.

The nine dogs featured in this book are different breeds with different characters. They all have names so they can be found on different pages as they go about their daily activities.

They may be in school, at the doctors visiting Doctor Woof, in the country, in the mountains, or learning their alphabet, colours, and numbers.

The illustrations are bright and often comical, creating numerous opportunities for children to learn whilst having fun with the dogs and their antics.

There are lots of objects, animals, and activities to name and identify with.

This hardback book will appeal to a wide age range, especially those Richard Scarry fans!

Reviewed by Judy Sail (Bookrapt)
http://www.bookrapt.org.nz/reviews/20...

[Katrina Clohessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for kids learning to identify objects by name. Shows the "life of dogs," or dogs in different environments/settings. Every picture is labeled. Includes numbers, alphabet, colors, animals, food, household items, vehicles, seasons, outdoor environments...No actual story, but humor in anthropomorphic animals.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this way more than I ever liked the work of Richard Scarry. To my amusement, a computer is shown in the house spread, but no where else: none of the jobs shown involve computers, for example. And the scale works better with just dogs. Something missing entirely: no phone.

Charming.

Library copy

[Kate Matheis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had cute pictures but there was no story. It was a series of illustrations and labels with each element. This would be good for a struggling reader or ELL student because they would see a picture of everyday objects and read its name.

[Lacy Fortenberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instead of being a continuous story book, the pages are full of adorable illustrations of dogs performing different activities in a range of settings. My 2.5 year old cannot get enough of this book, and I enjoy that it creates a dialogue and takes us beyond a standard script.

[Fabish Caruri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comme les autres critiques, ce livre n'a pas un sujet et une histoire non plus, mais je trouve qu'il est un livre d'enfant pour comprendre les mots, les choses basiques dans la vie. C'est la raison je le donne 5 étoiles (exacte 4,5).

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joyous tribute to Richard Scarry, with a smattering of other influences including Thurber (in how she draws dachshunds) and Heather Amery’s First Thousand Words (I had a couple of genuinely Proustian moments where I wanted desperately to find the hidden duck). A genuinely lovely book

[sweet orange books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book with dozens of dogs playing around together. A great way to learn new words for kids. Needs some extra teaching because dogs should not eat grapes, chocolate and other poisonous foods depicted in the book. A great book for dog-lovers.

Read and reviewed: 2018-08-12

[Alisa Cupcakeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

La chose que j’ai le plus aimée dans ce livre, c’est qu’il ressemble à une vieille encyclopédie des animaux. Aujourd’hui, alors que nous sommes plus habitués à l’illustration numérique, c’est beau de voir des illustrations à l’ancienne.

[Ms. Jeane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting word book set in a world of dogs....

[Bookthreat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read our review at https://bookthreat.com/2017/07/06/acc...

[Lisa Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this little book reminds me so much of Richard Scary. I love the illustrations and think lots of little ones will enjoy exploring this book on their own or with a sibling or adult.

[jess ~has abandoned GR~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute illustrations. Great for sight words.
This book does not tell a story.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s Richard Scarry for the 21st century! Dogs abound in this charming picture dictionary.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A day in the life -- if dogs ruled the world -- ala Richard Scarry style.

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that shows pictures of everyday objects with the word written underneath. Reminds me of Richard Scarry's books.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly amazing from beginning to end. It is very similar in style to Richard Scarry books, teaming with characters and packed with activity and "life." The rich, playful, kid-friendly scenes will have your child coming back again and again to join in the visual and textual fun that this gifted author/illustrator has imprinted there.

The book includes funny conversations and vignettes alongside descriptive illustrations that your child will truly love. It contains everything that a toddler needs to build up new vocabulary and his early reading skills. I love the fact that the author uses labelling as a teaching tool for your child to match a written word to an oral one. Smart. It is always a perfect learning technique to introduce a child very early on in life that verbal words can indeed be expressed in a written form. The more the child sees the word he will begin to recognize it when he bumps into other places in his world.

The author uses every aspect of life that a toddler needs and creativity presents it through the eyes and lives of nine funny, adorable, personable dogs. This single book holds everything a young child requires to learn about colours, numbers, emotion, and getting dressed, just to name a few. It features the same loveable dog characters as 'Shhh! I'm Sleeping', a previous book by this author and illustrator.


Nine dogs are immersed in life and through them your child can learn about seasons, colours, foods, town and country, flowers, school and work, the identity and characteritics of each canine starring in the tale, and much more.

"A Day with Dogs" is fantastic from cover-to-cover and I KNOW your child will feel the same way. It's a perfect book to share together or for your child to read solo. It will have him revisiting the book often to soak in the busyness and joy that is embedded in each page. I highly, highly recommend it and I give it 5+ Storywraps hugs. It's a winner.

[Casandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a great way to practice English vocabulary words. Each page has a million, along with the silly element that dogs are running the show...