Bibliography:
Gormley, Greg. 2011. DOG IN BOOTS. Ill. by Roberta Angaramo. London: Gullane Children’s Books. ISBN 978-0-8234-2347-7.
Plot Summary:
Dog In Boots is a wonderful story about a sweet dog that goes in search of the perfect pair of shoes that can do everything. He wants a pair of shoes that can help him do something specific such as swimming; the shopkeeper helps Dog get flippers but when Dog wants to scratch behind his ears the flippers are not good for such a thing so he needs a different pair of shoes. The shopkeeper keeps exchanging out the shoes until he ultimately helps Dog figure out what “shoes” can serve every purpose the dog wants!
Critical Analysis:
As Dog goes on a quest to find the perfect shoes that will allow him to do everything he wants the shopkeeper helps him discover what really does work best. Dog continues to go to the shopkeeper to find better shoes but the shopkeeper soon helps dog solve his problem by pointing out his paws are what will work best. It’s a simple picture book with adorable illustrations and the lesson learned in the end is a good one, use what you were given, it was given to you for a reason.
With the author being from England there is an expectation there might be an English influence in the writing and I believe there is. The author uses words such as rather and brilliant which are words many English people use. The illustrator is from Italy but in looking at the illustrations there is not much Italian influence or English influence since an English author wrote the book. The images don’t really depict a specific time period either. It’s a book that is pretty universal so it can be translated into many different languages. The shoes that dog tries to use are recognizable shoes so children from all over the world will be able to look at the shoes and know what they are typically used for.
Even though the author is English there isn't a tremendous amount of English influence within the writing or illustrations. With the main character being a dog there aren't gender roles, customs, beliefs, values or anything of the sort. I believe it's difficult to take a picture book such as this one with the main character being a dog and show a lot of deeper English details.
Even though the author is English there isn't a tremendous amount of English influence within the writing or illustrations. With the main character being a dog there aren't gender roles, customs, beliefs, values or anything of the sort. I believe it's difficult to take a picture book such as this one with the main character being a dog and show a lot of deeper English details.
The author has a repetitive theme within this book. The dog decides after reading Puss In Boots that he’d like a pair of boots too, those boots are good for one thing but not anything else so the dog goes back to the store for another pair. The shopkeeper gives him another pair to serve a purpose but that’s the only purpose it serves so back to the store the dog goes. This scenario keeps taking place until dog figures out what will work best. Repetition is great for children to see, they can anticipate what dog will do next but it’s a surprise what type of shoes he will go home with next.
Overall this is an adorable book with very colorful illustrations. The dog is so cute, all children would love this book. The different facial expressions the dog makes, the different shoes he tries on, the activities he partakes in while having the shoes, it is all just adorable. I wish there was more of an English influence as I would think certain types of shoes might be called something else in England.
Review Awards and Excerpts:
“Exceptionally adorable. Angaramo elevates cuteness to an art.” – Publishers Weekly
“Lively illustrations really take center stage.” – School Library Journal
2011 Outstanding International Book Recipient
Connections:
· The book is a great storybook for storytime. The character is cute, the pages are colorful and children can identify with the activities the dog does such as swimming and digging holes. As this book is being read I would ask the children what type of shoes they think would work best for each action, for instance when dog uses flippers to swim but they don’t work for scratching, ask the children what type of shoe would work well for scratching.
· During storytime it would be fun to have the children act out the activities the dog is doing. The children could pretend to be swimming, digging a hold, scratching their ear and so forth. It would be a fun activity correlated to reading a book.
