Read, Write, Repeat.

In today’s featured picture book, Cool Dog, School Dog by Deborah Heiligman (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2009), Tinka, a sociable dog, sneaks off and follows her favorite little boy to school.

When she arrives, Tinka’s natural exuberance causes problems and prompts a phone call from the office. But before Mom can come and collect Tinka, she redeems herself by sitting quietly and letting the children read to her.

Ian, today’s guest reviewer, used to have a dog named Bailey. He says Bailey never followed him to school, “But if he did, he probably would have just walked into my classroom and taken a nap on the floor.”

Here’s what else Ian had to say:

Our reviewer: Ian

Age: 7

I like: Playing basketball. Playing with my friend, Caleb. Building castles and other stuff out of Legos.

This book was about: A dog that has a lot of adventures at school.

The best part was when: The dog crashed into a box full of kickballs at the school.

I laughed when: The kickballs went everywhere.

I was worried when: When the teacher called the mom to come and get the dog. I thought the dog was in trouble.

I was surprised when: The dog went to school in the first place and that the dog had calmed down by the time the mom came to get her.

This book taught me: Don’t bring your dog to school.

Three words that best describe this book are: “Bad.” “Tinka.” “Dog.”

My favorite line or phrase in this book is: “Tinka is a hall dog, a ball dog, a crash-into-the-wall-dog.”

Other kids reading this book should watch for: The rhyming words.

You should read this book because: It’s funny.

Thanks, Ian!

This is a very short picture book with extremely clever rhyming lines about what makes Tinka tick. Because the text is spare, the illustrations show a lot of the mischief Tinka gets into as well as how much she’s loved by her owner and his friends.

You can learn more about author Deborah Heiligman at her Web site.

You can learn more about illustrator Tim Bowers at his Web site.