Day 48 and another title I remember from my own childhood - Harry the Dirty Dog. One of the first things I found googling this was notes on teaching kids philosophy from the story; mainly, the idea of how visual appearance is related to identity. I'd never quite thought of it like that before, but makes sense now - I can remember feeling the anxiety when Harry has changed appearance and his family don't recongise him. That aside, I've always loved the simple but expressive illustrations, and it now has a black, yellow and green colour scheme. (The colour was added in recent editions). The story has been around since the 50s, so it gets points for longevity, and there's something neatly nostalgic about reading the same stories to your kids that you read as a child.
And if you'd like to pass the reading baton, you can find Betty White reading it on YouTube. Yes, really.
Master A's verdict: This book has a lot more text (and it's prose) than most books I've read to him, but he actually paid attention anyway. I wonder if it will lead to requests for a pet dog. Time will tell.
Details:
- Title: Harry the Dirty Dog
- Author/Illustrator: Gene Zion / Margaret Bloy Graham
- Source: In home library
- Publisher: HarperCollins
What's on tomorrow? Slinky Malinki.