sibling rivalry | Reading With Rhythm

When I was a wee, young pup and first came to live at the 7 Acre Wood, there was already another dog living here. A Big Dog named Hank. Hank was not very happy to meet me in the beginning. It took a few days for him to be ok with me cuddling with him.

Then when Walker came to live with us, I was the Big Dog and I was not too happy to share things with him. But it didn’t take long to realize he wasn’t so bad after all.

I guess it’s hard to share attention with a new brother or sister or whatever. They steal your toys and get in your space and upset the family dynamics.

One of my all time favorite books is My Big Dog by Janet Stevens and her sister, Susan Stevens Crummel.

It was published in 1999 by Golden Books Publishing

It is a fiction Picture Book suitable for K and up

Themes would be animal stories and sibling rivalry

It begins — “My name is Merl and I am a cat, a very special cat. Inside my house, my PUR-R-R-R-fect house, everything is MINE!”

Merl the cat goes on to list all the things in the house that belong to him — including the people. Then he hears some strange sounds – CRASH. THUD. WOOF. His house has been invaded by a very large puppy! He tries lots of ways to get rid of the obnoxious, slobbery pup, but nothing works. And the puppy keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. So Merl decides that he himself must leave.

Merl is picked up by a nice lady who takes him home and proceeds to bathe him and fluff him and dress him. Well, that’s no fun! He tries a farmhouse, but they shoo him out to the barn. Two kids find him, but they play tug-of-war with him. The he gets rained on. A very sad state.

The next thing he knows, he’s being picked up by that pesky big dog! The big dog takes Merl back home. And Merl decides that home is the place to be even if he has to share it with a big dog. Maybe they can be friends after all.

The illustrations in My Big Dog are funny and fabulous. Soft artwork is combined with photographs to make for a whimsical reality. I love it!

This book has quite a bit of onomatopoeia (big fun word!) that makes it a fun read aloud. It would provide for a fun lesson about that Big Word.

Some of the kids in the class we visited have little brothers and sisters and we had a good discussion about how they felt when those siblings arrived. Some of them love their little siblings like crazy but some find that they get a little jealous. I can sure understand that.

Ms Crummel has some class activities on her website HERE.

It is Perfect Picture Book Friday so you might want to venture over to Susanna Hill’s blog for more fabulous Picture Books and great resources.

And here’s a little video that I’m guessing will make you humans chuckle —