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Curious George the Dog Show
In this early reader based on the Curious George TV, show George learns about counting and grouping at a dog show.
Curious George discovers surprises (and mischief) at his first dog show--and even brings the contestants home with him! When George becomes curious about how many dogs are in his apartment, he devises a clever way to find out. This simple story is perfect for children who are learning to sound out words and use visual clues to read stories. The animated series Curious George is available to watch on Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming platform.
Curious George discovers surprises (and mischief) at his first dog show--and even brings the contestants home with him! When George becomes curious about how many dogs are in his apartment, he devises a clever way to find out. This simple story is perfect for children who are learning to sound out words and use visual clues to read stories. The animated series Curious George is available to watch on Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming platform.
24 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
9 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Margret Rey
241 books122 followersMargret Elizabeth Rey (May 16, 1906 – December 21, 1996), born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein, was (with her husband H. A. Rey), the co-author and illustrator of children's books, best known for their Curious George
Although she was born in Germany, she fled to Brazil early in her life to escape Nazism. While there, she met her future husband Hans (who was a salesman and also from Germany). They married in 1935 and moved to Paris, France that same year.
While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George.
The Reys' odyssey brought them to the Spanish border, where they bought train tickets to Lisbon. From there they returned to Brazil, where they had met five years earlier, but this time they continued to New York, New York. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, though certain changes had to be introduced because of the technology of the time. Hans and Margret originally planned to use watercolors to illustrate the books, but since they were responsible for the color separation, he changed these to the cartoon-like images that continue to feature in each of the books. (A collector's edition with the original watercolors was recently released.)
Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the stories, though they both admitted to sharing the work and cooperating fully in every stage of development. At first, however, Margret's name was left off the cover, ostensibly because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories.
Margret and her husband moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, in a house close to Harvard Square. Following her husband's death in 1977, Margret continued writing, and in 1979, became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Starting in 1980, she also began to collaborate with Alan Shalleck on a series of short films featuring Curious George and more than two dozen additional books.
In 1989 Margret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. In 1996, she made major donations to the Boston Public Library and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was also a long-time supporter of the Longy School of Music. The Reys spent twenty summers in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, to enable H.A. Rey to better observe the stars for his astronomy writing. They became an integral part of the Waterville community and their legacy is honored by The Margret and H.A. Rey Center and the Curious George Cottage located there.
Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, a professor in the field of library science (specializing in children's literature) at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. contacted the Reys in 1966 about the university's new children's literature collection. H.A. and Margret made a donation of a pair of sketches at the time. In 1996, after Margret's death, it was revealed in her will that the entire literary estate of the Reys were to be donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss.
Although she was born in Germany, she fled to Brazil early in her life to escape Nazism. While there, she met her future husband Hans (who was a salesman and also from Germany). They married in 1935 and moved to Paris, France that same year.
While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George.
The Reys' odyssey brought them to the Spanish border, where they bought train tickets to Lisbon. From there they returned to Brazil, where they had met five years earlier, but this time they continued to New York, New York. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941, though certain changes had to be introduced because of the technology of the time. Hans and Margret originally planned to use watercolors to illustrate the books, but since they were responsible for the color separation, he changed these to the cartoon-like images that continue to feature in each of the books. (A collector's edition with the original watercolors was recently released.)
Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the stories, though they both admitted to sharing the work and cooperating fully in every stage of development. At first, however, Margret's name was left off the cover, ostensibly because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories.
Margret and her husband moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, in a house close to Harvard Square. Following her husband's death in 1977, Margret continued writing, and in 1979, became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Starting in 1980, she also began to collaborate with Alan Shalleck on a series of short films featuring Curious George and more than two dozen additional books.
In 1989 Margret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. In 1996, she made major donations to the Boston Public Library and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She was also a long-time supporter of the Longy School of Music. The Reys spent twenty summers in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, to enable H.A. Rey to better observe the stars for his astronomy writing. They became an integral part of the Waterville community and their legacy is honored by The Margret and H.A. Rey Center and the Curious George Cottage located there.
Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, a professor in the field of library science (specializing in children's literature) at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. contacted the Reys in 1966 about the university's new children's literature collection. H.A. and Margret made a donation of a pair of sketches at the time. In 1996, after Margret's death, it was revealed in her will that the entire literary estate of the Reys were to be donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 11, 2011
A story in "Curious George Early Reader Collection" hard cover book. Wonderful book, glad we bought it. Recommended.
October 19, 2018
Love it!
September 19, 2025
We're going through our collection of Step-1 or Level-1 readers with my now 7-year-old. He could probably advance to level-2 at this point, but I want to finish up the Level-1/Step-1 books that we have. He picked Curious George: The Dog Show out of our stack.
Curious George: The Dog Show is about George visiting a dog show for the first time. He watches the dogs stand around, but he expected them to do tricks. He loved visiting with the dogs after the show so much that he decided to take them home with him. Once home, he realized having all the dogs together was a little much, and he decided to separate them. He separates them by big, small, and hairy. Then he counts each one. Ultimately, the Man With the Yellow Hat and the dog owners show up.
Curious George: The Dog Show gets 4 Stars. It follows typical Curious George, getting into mischief and misunderstandings, but I liked how this book also had categorizing and adding included. These are both concepts that need to be developed by the same time or before being able to read Step-1 readers. Have you or your child read Curious George: The Dog Show? What did you think? Let me know!
Curious George: The Dog Show is about George visiting a dog show for the first time. He watches the dogs stand around, but he expected them to do tricks. He loved visiting with the dogs after the show so much that he decided to take them home with him. Once home, he realized having all the dogs together was a little much, and he decided to separate them. He separates them by big, small, and hairy. Then he counts each one. Ultimately, the Man With the Yellow Hat and the dog owners show up.
Curious George: The Dog Show gets 4 Stars. It follows typical Curious George, getting into mischief and misunderstandings, but I liked how this book also had categorizing and adding included. These are both concepts that need to be developed by the same time or before being able to read Step-1 readers. Have you or your child read Curious George: The Dog Show? What did you think? Let me know!
May 29, 2019
Leila - 0 stars - I don’t like it bc it was boring/
March 11, 2020
Hav really liked it
June 1, 2021
It was cute. I wanted to see George playing with the dogs but it was still cute.
July 31, 2023
It’s silly and cute. My son and I enjoyed the book.
October 30, 2024
The plot of this book was very weird and made it sound like dog shows were not cool, which I didn't appreciate.
January 19, 2026
George IS a monkey. Once again he gets himself in a tangled innocent mess
April 13, 2019
We love Curious George books!
July 12, 2013
This children’s book is about the lovable and always curious monkey named George. In this book George goes to a dog a show and is not entertained by what he sees. The dogs were not doing tricks and he was bored. After meeting the dogs, George decides to take them all back home with him unbeknown to their owners. Well you can imagine how shocked George’s owner was walking into a house full of dogs. This is a good read for children who love Curious George and are fond of dogs.
The author uses character as a writing craft throughout all Curious George books. Readers can expect the main characters George and the Man to have consistent characteristics. For example, George is a curious monkey who is always getting into things and exploring. In each story the reader can expect to see George getting into some type of troubling situation. Another main character is the Man who wears the yellow hat. The Man is George’s owner and although he does not say much in the stories, we can expect to see him with his yellow hat, and surprised by George’s actions.
I think the Author uses character well because there is a consistency in the characters. This lets readers get attached to characters and decide their favorite. This aspect of character may be a leading reason why Curious George is a favorite children’s book for so many.
Using Curious George books, I could have students examine the character traits and their matching actions. I could have students create their own characters and decide a leading trait for their characters that will be constant.
The author uses character as a writing craft throughout all Curious George books. Readers can expect the main characters George and the Man to have consistent characteristics. For example, George is a curious monkey who is always getting into things and exploring. In each story the reader can expect to see George getting into some type of troubling situation. Another main character is the Man who wears the yellow hat. The Man is George’s owner and although he does not say much in the stories, we can expect to see him with his yellow hat, and surprised by George’s actions.
I think the Author uses character well because there is a consistency in the characters. This lets readers get attached to characters and decide their favorite. This aspect of character may be a leading reason why Curious George is a favorite children’s book for so many.
Using Curious George books, I could have students examine the character traits and their matching actions. I could have students create their own characters and decide a leading trait for their characters that will be constant.
August 31, 2012
This one is based off the most recent Curious George animated series on PBS. Robert has seen these shows, and so loves this version of George and his friends. This (and the other "early reader" CG books rated here) were regular bedtime reading material a few months after he turned 2.
October 12, 2016
Great book for new readers. I liked the silly element the book gave and George's observations and curiosity about the dog show and the many types of dogs. The ending was great, I loved that all of the owners came to get their dogs and they all spent time together.
March 11, 2009
I liked when the dogs followed George out of the dog show.
June 9, 2012
Cute and silly, and involves maths.
November 22, 2013
If your little one likes Curious George, then he/she will likely enjoy this book. I read it to some preschool-aged children, and they were very attentive to the story.
March 13, 2013
Oh george will you ever learn. Is an apartment of full of dogs ever a good idea?
Read
December 2, 2016We follow the city’s most adored monkey George to his first dog show. It was not at all what he expected it to be. The real fun begins when George meets the dogs and decides to take them all home without anyone knowing. As George’s best friend returns home, he was astonished to find dogs in every room. Not knowing how many there are George uses his math skills to add them together. The book ends with the show dogs safely back with their owners.
Pre-k-2nd grade
For entertainment with a focus in mathematics
The whole class would benefit from this book
Small groups would be okay, as well as being read to the whole class
There are many Curious George Books
They do have a cartoon series, movies, and audio books available.
Pre-k-2nd grade
For entertainment with a focus in mathematics
The whole class would benefit from this book
Small groups would be okay, as well as being read to the whole class
There are many Curious George Books
They do have a cartoon series, movies, and audio books available.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews