Hot diggity dog! ( )

Dig, Dogs, Dig: A Construction Tail by James Horvath uses vibrant colors and beautifully crafted illustrations to tell a rhyming tale of dogs working together to build a park. In the title, I noticed the use of "tail" instead of "tale." I think that could open up a discussion about homonyms. Children would find this book greatly entertaining. ( )

Dogs, Heavy Construction Equipment... What More Can A Kid Want!

Duke, Roxy, Buddy, Max, Spot and Spike. They are DOGS AT WORK!

In this case they are building a park.

There are tons of things we like about this book. First of all, it's a good Read-aloud for me. The rhymes work and they aren't a challenge for me to get the rhythm right.

"There's trouble in the pit.
We've hit something big.
Get down in the hold and
dig, dogs, dig!"

For the kids the artwork is just great. It's bright and colorful and filled with little humorous vignettes. There's a truck, for example, that is delivering ducks for the park --which is funny enough. But the truck has an 800 hundred number to call, should you need your own ducks.

The book begins with the dogs, and their cat, waking up and then having breakfast. It then has them rushing to the work site to get started. Fans of front-loaders, excavators, and graders, etc., will enjoy seeing those pieces of heavy equipment hard at work. What I liked is that there is also a page where these are shown and labelled. It's a nice touch, particularly useful if the name of the machine has momentarily slipped your mind.

DEFINITELY RECOMMEND this book for children that are curious about heavy equipment and how things are done. This book actually has a lot to teach. Besides how the equipment works, children can be introduced to the idea of how large projects are planned and how much work goes into something like a park. There are trees and plants, swings, fountains, and benches to be delivered; and plans to follow.

Good Read-aloud with something to teach. ( )