Go, Dog. Go!

by P.D. Eastman

Reading goes to the dogs in this timeless Beginner Book edited by Dr. Seuss. From big dogs and little dogs to red, green, and blue dogs, dogs going up and dogs going fast . . . who knew dogs were so busy? And laughter will ensue at the repeated question “Do you like my hat?” Like P. D. Eastman’s classic Are You My Mother? Go, Dog. Go! has been a go-to favorite for over fifty years, leaving audiences of all breeds wagging their tails with delight.


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.

 "The canine cartoons make an elementary text funny and coherent and still one of the best around."--School Library Journal. 

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Classics, Animals, Dogs, Kids

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

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

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this is a classic and all, but I had a hard time making it through this book. It's full of needless repetition, which makes it longer than it needs to be. What's more, the plot is a mess, leaping from event to event almost randomly at times.

I respect what the author is attempting to do here, thematically. Eastman is asking bold questions about how things are related to one another. Are we a green dog or a yellow one? Is it day or night? These are big questions, and they need to be asked.

That said, you can have a book that contains big ideas AND an interesting story too. And, unfortunately, the story is severely lacking here.

The one saving grace of the book was the "Do you like my hat?" subplot, which was very tight in its execution and satisfying in its resolution.

Ultimately, when reading a book like this, the question you have to ask yourself is "Would I buy the sequel?" And I have to say, with some regret, that I wouldn't. There were just too many structural problems with the story for that.

* * *

Seriously though, I had a great time reading this book with my little boy. Lots of basic words used in different situations make it a great tool. If I was still teaching ESL students, I would use this to clue in struggling students about prepositions. (If you think prepositions are easy, it's only because you're a native speaker. Try explaining to someone from Japan why you get *in* a car but *on* a train.)

As a bonus, this book is long. Most kids books seem to be about 20 pages these days, but this is pretty easily triple that. It makes it less of a mind-numbing experience when you end up reading it a couple times.

P.S. I meant what I said about the hat subplot. Genius.

[Ahmad Sharabiani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go, Dog. Go!, P.D. Eastman

The book helps children learn basic concepts and actions like playing, working, going up, going down. The book also teaches children colors and conveys emotion.

The dogs featured in the book use their cars to help them get their work done and get to places. Throughout the book, details in Eastman's illustrations seem to invite the reader to notice the deeper significance of small things.

In their first appearance, a pink dog asks a yellow dog if he likes her hat with its little flower. He does not, so they leave. Several pages later, we meet them again. Now they are riding scooters; she has a hat with a feather.

Again, he does not like her hat, but as they part, he has made off with the feather. When we next see them together, they are skiing.

The yellow dog does not like the long ski cap the pink dog is wearing. They leave as she bids him an angry farewell.

In their final meeting, her hat is even more elaborate and finally meets the approval of the yellow dog; in this way, a relationship is developed between the characters despite the simplicity of the text. It shows interaction when the dogs meet.

Throughout the book, there is an unclear outcome of what the book is trying to show but towards the end all of the dogs have a party.

تاریخ خوانش روز بیستم ماه نوامبر سال 2016میلادی

عنوان: بدو سگه، بدو ...؛ مولف و تصویرگر پی. دی. ایستمن؛ مترجم فلورا وجدانی؛ تهران، نشر رمز؛ 1398؛ در 61ص؛ مصور؛ شابک 9789648547993؛ گروه سنی الف و ب؛ موضوع داستان سگها از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م

این کتاب به کودکان یاری میکند، تا مفاهیم و اقدامات اساسی، مانند «بازی»، «کار»، «بالا رفتن»، و «پایین آمدن» را یاد بگیرند؛ این کتاب همچنین به کودکان رنگها را نیز میآموزد، و احساسات را نیز منتقل میکند؛ سگهای معرفی شده در این کتاب، از اتومبیل خود، برای انجام کار و رفتن به مکانها استفاده میکنند؛ جزئیات در تصاویر «ایستمن»، خواننده را به توجه به اهمیت ژرف چیزهای کوچک، دعوت میکند؛ در نخستین حضورشان، یک «سگ صورتی»، از یک «سگ زرد» میپرسد که: آیا کلاه او را با گل کوچکش دوست دارد؟ چندین صفحه بعد، دوباره با آنها دیدار میکنیم؛ حالا آنها سوار «روروک» هستند؛ او یک کلاه، با یک پر دارد؛ دوباره، او کلاه او را دوست ندارد، اما در حالیکه آنها جدا میشوند، او با پر کار میکند؛ بعد که آنها را با هم میبینیم، آن دو در حال اسکی هستند؛ «سگ زرد» کلاه اسکی بلندی که «سگ صورتی» بر سر دارد را، دوست ندارد؛ آنها آنجا را نیز ترک میکنند؛ در جلسه ی آخر، كلاه با جزئیات بیشتری ارائه میشود، و سرانجام مورد تأیید «سگ زرد» قرار میگیرد؛ به این ترتیب، با وجود سادگی متن، بین شخصیتها رابطه ایجاد میشود؛ در پایان همه سگها مهمانی برگزار میکنند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

[Matthew Rappelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly, nothing has captured the scope of emotion that encompasses Romance such as Go Dog. Go! Part tragedy, part romantic comedy this is a love story for the ages. With such memorable wit and dialog such as the belly laugh inducing "Do you like my hat?" and the heart wrenching reply, "No I do not." You will laugh, and you'll cry. It's not all romance though, the book deftly weaves in several subplots which serve as complex metaphors for various political and philosophical debates. For example, there is a seen in which "The dogs go to sleep. They will sleep all night." is clearly an *obvious* metaphor for female hegemony towards the oppressive male dominated society of the early Mad Men era 1960's in which this book takes place. In other portions of the book it explores how the effects of how economic success and failure in the brewing industry plays out among moderate Democratic congressmen, for example "The blue dog is in. The red dog is out. (Clearly a throwback to Prohibitionist sentiment and history.)
At it's climax, Go, Dog. Go! explores how runaway consumerism, and out-of-control automobile industry have set American society on a one way path to self annihilation. Not even the power of the newly formed Green Movement can help society. The Green Movement(here symbolized by a Giant Tree), is consumed and polluted by society in a hedonistic Tree-Dog-Party. In the end we are teased with one ray of hope, as the male and female protagonists escape this debauchery together, their budding romance at long last blossomed, providing hope that someday through the verisimilitude of their mutual affection a new generation will be born that can overcome the pettiness of their forefathers, and set society on the path to salvation.

[Archit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic illustrations. Good for teaching children about numbers and colors. Hilariously humorous at few points.

Do you like my hat?
I do not!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the school year started, I've been forced to read this to (or more accurately, read along with) my daughter...about 4 million times.
Ok. Maybe I'm exaggerating.
She's a BIG girl now, so they have to read for 15 minutes every day after school, which I think is GREAT!
Except for the part where I have to listen to this story, and others like it, for the rest of the school year.
Yes, the end result (a literate child) is totally worth it.
And for whatever reason, Go, Dog. Go! has become her favorite choice for this assignment.

The great thing about this one is the repetitive use of sight words that every kid needs to be able to quickly recognize.
For that reason alone, this thing is worth its weight in gold for beginning readers.
Then, of course, it has wacky dogs doing wacky dog things.
Can't go wrong with that, can you?
Not if you're a kid!

My favorite part of the book is the Two Dogs and the Hat stuff.
No, it's not exactly comedy gold, but my daughter always does this funny little high-pitched voice for the girl dog, and a low (which still sounds squeaky coming from her) manly voice for the boy dog.
It's adorable.
Then again, I'm probably just biased.

If you've got a little kid who's learning how to read, go get this sucker.
Sure, you'll be ready to tear your hair out after a few readings, but they'll love it.
It's called sacrifice. Now suck it up, and grab this for your kid.

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dog.
Big dog. Little dog.
Big dogs and little dogs. Black and white dogs.
Hello! Hello! Do you like my hat? I do not. Good-by! Good-by!

Do you have the opening pages memorized? At one time I did, then this immortal classic went the way of all childhood, back on the shelf to await the resurrection of a new generation, which came recently with our grandson.

My daughter texted me recently to apologize for demanding this book every night before bed. She said she had just read it three times to her son and had NO IDEA it was so long! Yes, it seemed long to me when I was a busy young mother too. Now as an old lady, it just seems fun.

This past weekend I read it at least seven, but probably eight, times to my grandson and my husband had his turns too.

We bought our daughter a brand-new copy of this treasured favorite for her children, but we continue to cherish the well-loved pages of the one she poured so many hours of her precious childhood into. 🥰

What a dog party! (What a book!)

Good-by! Good-by!

[leynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slowly building a library for my nephew (who has become my favorite person in the entire world). Can't wait to read this book to him soon, I'm sure he'll love it (I mean which little kid doesn't enjoy colorful dogs, cars and tree house parties?), even though for me – an adult who has no nostalgia attached to this book – it wasn't that memorable of a read.

If you have any cute children's picture book recommendations for me, let me know in the comments! Like I said, I'm building a LIBRARY for that little guy. :D (FYI: He will be bilingual – German and English.)

***

Go, Dog. Go! is a 1961 children's book written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman. It describes the actions and interactions of a group of highly mobile dogs, who operate cars and other conveyances in pursuit of work, play, and a final mysterious goal: a dog party.

The book introduces concepts such as color and relative position with simple language and humor. ("The blue dog is in. The red dog is out.") The book helps children learn basic concepts and actions like playing, working, going up, going down.

The dogs featured in the book use their cars to help them get their work done and get to places. Throughout the book, details in Eastman's illustrations seem to invite the reader to notice the deeper significance of small things.

In their first appearance, a pink dog asks a yellow dog if he likes her hat with its little flower. He does not, so they part. Several pages later, we meet them again as they are riding scooters. She has a hat with a feather, and again he does not like her hat. But as they part, he has made off with the feather. When we next see them together, they are skiing. The yellow dog does not like the long ski cap the pink dog is wearing. As they leave, she bids him farewell. In their final meeting, her hat — now even more elaborate — finally meets the approval of the yellow dog. In this way, a relationship development is shown between the characters despite the simplicity of the text. It shows interaction when the dogs meet. Throughout the book, the conclusion is elusive, but at the end all the dogs have a wild party.

I'm sure that this book will be a hit with my nephew, as it has been for many children throughout the last decades. The art style is just super fun and there's a lot going on on each page (but not too much!), so that I'm sure kids can't spend minutes looking at each page and finding joy in all its details.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first met Erika, for some long forgotten reason and situation, someone said, "Do you like my hat?"

I answered: "No. I do not." There was an awkward pause and I added, "Good-bye. Good-bye again," with some totally bizarre, guttural, kiddie voice. It became a fun inside joke for Erika and me, but for the life of us, we couldn't remember where it came from. It sounded familiar; it didn't sound me-invented, but we couldn't place it.

Then we had babes, and I picked up a bunch of board books -- and there it was.

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

"Do you like my hat?"

"I do not."

"Good-by."

"Good-by."

It wasn't quite how I remembered it, not quite the way my mind had twisted it over all those years, but we had finally found the source, and we were stoked.

5 years later my boy is reading it to me. It is a great book to foster reading , but even if I didn't have a prior bond with the book beyond learning to read, I would still love Go Dog. Go because of my son.

It is a fave. No question.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic colorful book filled with wonderful illustrations and little sub-stories.
It stimulates a child's imagination while teaching him numbers, colours and social skills.
How about the child is counting the dogs in the bed and the ones underneath the bed.
Or seeing all the things the dogs are doing in their treetop party-the big dogs, little dogs, yellow,
red, blue, pink and green dogs.
This will be great fun for any child aged 4-8 , and will not only be educational , but it is something
she will remember for the rest of her life. (less)

[Kazbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go Dog Go is an exciting tale about a dog on his journey through life. It encompasses all of the major obstacles we confront in our modern western society from his first period to a heart attack at thirty. Most of the text requires use of a dictionary however if you have an internet connection available then looking up the more obscure words becomes a snap. Overall, I found the overarching message of this masterpiece insightful and full of ethically sound judgments. I would without question recommend this book to anyone looking for a critical self examination of one's self and or a substitute for toilet paper.

[Miriam Axel-lute · Rating 1 out of 5]

All of the plotlessness and pointlessness of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish but none of the wild creativity or language play.

I mean, I know an easy reader needs to have simple language, but there are tons of books that manage that without being this insipid.

And why oh why does the female dog have to win the approval of the male dog by changing her hat, until they ride off into the sunset at the end when he finally likes her hat?

I could go on. I wouldn't even bother to comment on this, except it's a "classic" and that scares me.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic colorful book filled with wonderful illustrations and little sub-stories.
It stimulates a child's imagination while teaching him numbers, colours and social skills.
How about the child is counting the dogs in the bed and the ones underneath the bed.
Or seeing all the things the dogs are doing in their treetop party-the big dogs, little dogs, yellow,
red, blue, pink and green dogs.
This will be great fun for any child aged 4-8 , and will not only be educational , but it is something
she will remember for the rest of her life.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neo literally sped through this book, leaving no word unpronounced or page unturned. Dogs are all over zooming around town in cars, sometimes obeying traffic laws, but also hard-pressed to listen. They congregate together in parks and on the outskirts of town, reds with blacks, greens, and blues. There is no rhyme or reason, but there sure are dogs. Neo loved this one, even after he told me that he’s read this book at school many times, so he knew all the words. Still, it was a fast-paced story for us both to enjoy!

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another childhood favorite! 😊

[Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a read - what a book. i'll try and finish it up this year.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking no one, this book was and is a vital part of who I am as a person.

The breadth of human emotion the riveting story pulls the reader through; the stunning and energetic imagery; the profound sense of forward motion and evolution; this is a book that truly transcends what books can be.

It was also my favorite book as a child that my dad would read out loud to me, so I may be slightly biased with my interpretation of this (otherwise inarguable) masterpiece.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic!
--Do you like my hat?
--No, I do not.
--Good-bye again.
--Good-bye!
....
--And now, do you like my hat?
[do not want to have to put a spoiler alert! so I'll stop now]

[Tess Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i learned what opposites were. i learned that dogs have enormous parties atop trees. i learned that it is "hot out here in the sun" and that it is "not hot here under the house." and most of all, i loved that two page spread of all the dogs in the bed, and that one is lying there with those wide eyes! yeah, i like that dog.

[Mark Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite book to read to my kids, even down to the size of the book. It uses some tricky moves to get children to learn, and its an incredible story without being a story.

Why is one dog still wide awake with his big, white eyes when the rest are asleep? What is he thinking about? And is this the same dog who is asleep when it is time for the dogs to get up? And how about playing checkers on the boat while your buddy plays guitar? Dreamy. And the poor bird crossing the street that makes all the dogs Screech on their brakes. What was he thinking and where was he going? And finally, "Do you like my hat?" I randomly ask my kids that question intermittently and they always know exactly how to answer.

By the way, anybody notice that the dog steals the feather out of the female dogs hat at one point? yes, its true. First she has the feather in her hat, then he seems to have snatched it.

The Dog party at the end is like an opium dream. This must be the true dog heaven. I want to be reincarnated as a dog and star in Go Dog Go.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic plot: Dogs doing things!

I know it isn't really a plot, but the book doesn't really have one. This book uses simple repetition and clear pictures to teach kids about prepositions (under, over, in, on, etc), sizes, and a few other basic concepts. The pictures are funny and have lots of details to talk about with little ones beyond the words on the page. There's a lot of good repeat factor in there because of this. I took this book on a 2-week vacation with my 5-year old and read it almost every night, picking a different page to describe more fully each night. It's also a much longer book than a lot of other picture books designed for kids. It keeps attention, though, reminding us adults that kids can have an attention span beyond a few seconds if the text is worthwhile! A few older-than-me (60-something) campmates seemed quite tickled that this book was still being read. There is a reason why Eastman ranks up with Seuss in staying power of the books written. :) Those books are quality stuff that every child should read.

[mwr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me troubles in pre-school. It must have been some kind of Montessori situation, I'm not sure. All I can remember is that if I pretended that I could not read well then I would be with the kids whose nap-time involved back rubs. If I could read well then I was allowed into the room with all of the books (including this one, which I more or less wanted to read every day), but nap-time was governed by some awful person who did not rub backs. I was forced to choose between pretending to be dull but receiving back rubs and giving up back rubs but being allowed to read GDG every day). Such was my introduction to the imperfections of this world.

[Bonnie G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My baby is nearly 22 so we last read this together roughly 19 years ago. The other day he walked in and said "Do you like my hat" and I said "I do not like your hat." He looked annoyed and told me he was wearing it to the dog party no matter what I thought. That is how special a book this is. I felt obligated to stop in and register that 5 star.

[Otis Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter is loving this. Published in the 60's and one of the best I've found!

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

So if you are going to collect dog books, ya' gotta have 'To, Dog. Go! right? Great book to help teach kids colors and numbers and some words. I remember reading this when I was a kid sometime, and probably read it to my kids, but didn't have a kid that wanted to read it every day for a month like 'Cat in the Hat.' Still a good one to see who remembers details. For example, how does the book start?

Dog
Big Dog
Little Dog

Who can remember how it ends?

And of course, 'Do you like my hat?'

[Malina Skrobosinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for teaching your children colors, the difference between up and down, day and night, stop and go, and much more.

It's a quick read, and sure to be a childhood favorite.

[Irma · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book to learn to read by.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful reread in honor of the new Netflix series of the same name. The TV show is set in—you're gonna love this—Pawston.

[Simon Wehner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favorite book I've EVER read! The illustrations are top notch and the words very easy to understand. I can even say some of them. It's a page turner from beginning to end.

[TL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a cute book:)

Check out Jamie Lee Curtis' excellent narration here
(https://www.instagram.com/p/CCedKfHJICx/ - direct link)

[Leftbanker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los Angeles street racer Dominic Toretto falls under the suspicion of the LAPD as a string of high-speed electronics truck robberies rocks the area. Brian O'Connor, an officer of the LAPD, joins the ranks of Toretto's highly skilled racing crew undercover to convict Toretto. However, O'Connor finds himself both enamored with this new world and in love with Toretto's sister, Mia. As a rival racing crew gains strength, O'Connor must decide where his loyalty really lies.

Wait, that’s something else, but these dogs are both fast and furious. I read this a long time ago and I can’t remember the ending, but I’m pretty sure the protagonist doesn’t wrap his Porsche around a tree. In fact, there are no fatal crashes in this little book.