My niece Layla has eclectic style as exhibited here by her dinosaur t-shirt that she’s paired with her ruby slippers.
I love to watch her taste develop and encourage her interest in the things I love too – namely dogs. I have given her several dog books and she has found some of her favorites on her own.
Here are Layla’s picks for the best dog books for kids this holiday season.
The Costume Party
by Victoria Chess tells the story of Madame Coco and her five Bull Terriers. Forced inside on a series of rainy days, they decide to throw a costume party to entertain themselves. The illustrations and the bad dogs are hilarious. These are real dogs “doing their business” and ripping up cushions, drawn in a style compared to the great Edward Gorey. Layla loved the large vivid pictures as a baby and still continues to enjoy it now that she’s 2 1/2 and she sleeps in a big girl bed.
Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers at the Piddleton “Last Chance” Dog Pound by Berkeley Breathed is an exquisite book of imperfect dogs and accompanying verse. Truly a book for any aged dog lover and/or fan of Breathed’s Pulitzer Prize winning work. I confess I get a little emotional about these homeless dogs. Layla knows them all by heart and would adopt them if she could.
That’s Not My Puppy: Its Coat Is Too Hairy by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells. This Usborne Touchy-Feely book is one of Layla’s favorites and it gets a 5 star rating from 26 other kids (and their parents) on Amazon. Crib friendly, i.e. durable, and engaging, i.e. picked for multiple reads. If you’re child likes this one, know that there are 12 more “That’s Not” books – truck, bunny, dragon, lion, etc. in the series.
Happy at the Bel-Air by Gwen Davis and Sonia Moskowitz. Layla was born into the home of Danny the Yorkie. I think that made her especially fond of this book about another strong-willed Yorkie named Happy and his romantic adventures at the dreamy Bel-Air Hotel. Simple story. Great fun for Yorkie lovers!
I gave Open Me…I’m a Dog by famed MAUS graphic artist Art Spiegelman to Layla for her 2nd birthday. Although I was a bit disappointed that the book didn’t deconstruct into a dog (one reviewer called it three dimensional art so I had high expectations) it was a big hit with both kids and adults. Everyone kept picking it up to read it. Layla still enjoys “walking” her book that comes complete with a leash.
Leave a Reply