Little Dogs Say "Rough!"

by Rick Walton, Henry Cole (Illustrations)

Children learn what animals are really talking about in this entertaining book with humorous verses and illustrations.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 19, 2000

About the author

Born and raised in Utah, Walton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He served as a missionary to Brazil from 1976 to 1978, soon after he graduated from high school. Later, at Brigham Young University, he became president of the Brazil Club. In 1980, he graduated from Brigham Young with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a minor in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil.

Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.

Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.

Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.

Reviews

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows a repeated pattern for each page. Each page features an animal and their sound (or close to it) as a play on words. I appreciate the creativity.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the pictures, and I enjoyed the play on animal sounds. Some the preschool crowd would get, but some they might not. However, I could explain the one or two and it probably wouldn't detract. They might have fun repeating aloud the slightly altered animal sounds. I could add a flannel aspect to keep attention in case they don't "get" what's going on.

[Keegan Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love this one, but it was a sort of interesting way to play with animal sounds. By the way, the listing for this book is wrong, as the author is Rick Walton and the illustrator is Henry Cole.

[Annabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

read again in November 2013

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun play on animal sounds, solid rhythm and rhyme that builds on connected word sounds.