The Truth About Cats and Dogs

The children will discuss books with me on Monday and Wednesday this week. If you don't see a contribution by your child in the Monday discussion, look for it in the Wednesday discussion.

Our theme this week is Dogs and Cats, and the children will vote for their favorite animal on Wednesday.

On Monday, September 21, 2009 the EK and PK children read and discussed My Big Dog by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. The author referred to the dog and cat as "it" making it impossible to determine the animals' gender. You'll notice the children freely interchange feminine and masculine pronouns in talking about the animals, especially the cat. Most of the children referred to the dog as "he." The cat was a bit trickier for them.

EK Responses

Brady K.: I liked this book because the dog kept going, SLURP, SLURP, SLURP!

John: I liked it because it had the cat saying, "Everything's all mine!" And I liked it when the dog kept finding the cat and the dog kept slurping and the cat kept trying to get him away, get him away, get him away. And I liked it because it had when the dog kept growing bigger and bigger and BIGGER! And I liked when he was so huge. And I liked when the cat want to run away and the lady took her and the cat thought it would be a nice idea to make the girl take her home. Then she decided it wasn't so nice after all. And when she saw the CAT WANTED sign and she decided to go in there and got pushed out by a broom. And I liked when a boy picked her up but the boy and the girl were fighting over it. And I liked when he had to sleep and then it was raining. And I liked when the dog found the cat and took her home. And I liked when the cat wanted to make friends and share with the dog. And then she would share her dog, and then he licked her. And I liked when we had that voting at the end about purple and blue on the end papers. [When we previewed the book and looked at the end papers, the children couldn't agree what color the back end papers were. Some thought purple, and some thought blue. We took a vote after reading the book. Nine children voted for purple, and 4 children voted for blue.]  And I liked when they showed the light blue at here. [The front end papers.] And there's two more things I like. I liked the outside [cover] at the front. And I liked the outside [cover] of the back. Now I'm done.

Brooke B.: I liked it because when he started out as a puppy and the cat said, "My everything!" And when she said, "I let my owners pet sometimes when I feel like it." And when she said, "I'm tired. I've been up from breakfast. It's almost time for my nap!" And when said, "Here comes my owner!" I liked when she said, "Dog alert! Dog alert! Time to hide!" I liked the part when the cat got licked. And I like when she put crumbs all over the outside to get away from him, but that didn't work. Then she knew she would take him for a walk and said, "I know! I will tie him to a tree." That didn't work. That's it!

Brooke N.: I liked it because the dog found the cat and because he licked the cat. The cat felt weird. I liked it because the dog was getting big. My dog was little before so he had to have a home and we took him from the pet shop to our house. My dog is named King. He's a little bit big dog not that much.

Bella: I liked the pictures. He said that all the stuff is his. I liked the dog. I'm done.

Sophie: I liked it because the girl said, "It's my kitty." She took it from the boy.

PK Responses -- On Monday, September 21st the PK children had a special story guest -- my big lion puppet. Mr. Lion visited to model storytime etiquette such as listening without interrupting. (Mr. Lion interrupts a lot!) He also modeled responding to my questions following the reading, which I'm hoping will inspire the children to really elaborate on their own responses.

Mack: I liked it because it had a cute, little kitty. I liked it when the dog found her crying and he brought her back home. And when the kids said, "It's my kitty! No, It's my kitty!" I liked it when the kitty said, "Could we be friends?" And when the girl dressed her up like a show kitty.

Kaitlyn: I liked it because I like when the cat said, "Can we be friends?" I liked when the dog bited the cat. He was helping the cat. He was saving it. I liked the part when the cat felt very sad. I know she was very sad in this picture. Look at her face. Everything was hers, and she didn't care about the dog.

Katherine: I liked it because of the first part he told himself everything was all his. And I liked it when he hided. I think he hide under his bed, then on the desk, then in the drawer.

Camryn: I liked it because I loved the dog slobbered the cat. I loved the people trying both have the cat. I loved that part! That was funny. I loved the cat get his nails done. The person picking the cat up -- I loved that. I loved the end papers, too.

Acadia: I like it because he said everything was his. That was my favorite. And I liked when the girl was picking him up and she was bringing him home. That was my favorite. I liked this part because he runned away and then he runned out like that from the broom. And because he was sad because the rain was pouring on him. I liked it when the dog was picking him up and bringing him home. I'm done.

Arthur: I liked all of the pages. My favorite part was just like Mr. Lion's [the puppet] when the dog keeped finding the cat.