Dog in Charge

by K.L. Going, Dan Santat (Illustrations)

When the going gets tough, Dog . . . takes a nap

Dog can Sit .
He can Stay .
He can even Dance .
But when he's in charge, can he keep the cats in line?
All one, two, three, four, five of them?

Illustrated by Caldecott winner, Dan Santat, and packed full of slapstick silliness and utterly earnest charm, Dog will quickly wiggle his way into preschoolers' hearts.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Animals, Cats, Pets, Childrens, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

K.L. Going is the award winning author of numerous books for children and teens. Her first novel, Fat Kid Rules the World was named a Michael Printz Honor Book by the American Library Association, and was included on YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults list and their list of Best Books for the Past Decade. Her books have been Booksense picks, Scholastic Book Club choices, Junior Library Guild selections, NY Public Library Best Books for the Teenage, and winners of state book awards. They’ve been featured by Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Children's Book Council as Best Books of the year. Her work has also been published in Korea, Italy, Japan, Germany, and the UK, and her novel Fat Kid Rules the World is soon to be an independent film!

K.L. began her career working at one of the oldest literary agencies in New York City. She used this inner knowledge of publishing to write Writing and Selling the Young Adult Novel -- a how-to book for aspiring writers, published by Writer's Digest. She has also written short stories for several anthologies and currently has multiple picture books under contract. She lives in Glen Spey, NY where she both writes and runs a business critiquing manuscripts. She’s also a mom to the world’s cutest little boy.

To visit KL on-line go to www.klgoing.com, www.facebook.com/klgoing, or at http://twitter.com/#!/KLGoing.

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin]

Dog is a good dog, and enjoys many delicious treats as a result. But when his owner leaves the house with Dog in charge, can he keep the five cats in line? Well, cats will be cats. But in the end, the five cats do so love Dog. A sweet and funny book about dog and cat dynamics, with a more serious underlying message: "It's hard to be in charge!" Especially when your delicious treats are in jeopardy. The playful illustrations add additional humor.

[Heather McC]

Dog and his fellow cats have a sweet relationship in this counting tale.

[Theresa]

Dog has been such a good boy that his humans leave him in charge of the cats when they go out to run errands. Of course, as soon as they leave, the cats find all sort of mischief to get into. They practically wreck the house and nothing that Dog says can stop them. But when he gets so tired from chasing after them and falls asleep, they decide that they love him and don't want him to get into trouble. So they clean up the house so that when the humans return, they praise Dog for doing a good job of watching the cats. In the end, everyone is happy. Great illustrations.

[Cheryl]

Requested because I loved Santat's The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. This reminds me too much of Cat in the Hat, and I just don't quite care for it. Cute rhythm of text, cute when the dog dances. I'm sure most ppl will like it more than I.

[Jillian Anderson]

My students loved this book. They loved looking for the cats in the illustrations and were so curious as to what mischief the cats would get into next. Great to pair with other dog books or to discuss following the rules and cleaning up after making a mess.

[Rod Brown]

Maybe really 2.5 stars. Not the greatest story, but I liked the pictures, the counting and the onomatopoeia. As cats are inherently evil, I did not really buy their role in the finale.

[Dolly]

This story shows what happens when Mom leaves the house and the dog is in charge of taking care of his five feline family members.

Chaos and hilarity follow - this is a fun, fast read.

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer]

Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

Dog is loved by his owner who has him sit, stay and even dance. When the family leaves for the day they leave dog in charge of the house and his 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 feline companions. Will he be able to keep these cats in line?

This book is, for all intents and purposes, about love. A dog is loved by his owner and tries to love the cats he's left in charge of the same way. When that doesn't work for the cats dog gets into trouble himself. This causes the cats to want to help dog as they love him too! I love the idea of this! My problem such as it is was that the story is a little too simple to support the large idea. I had to ponder the story all evening to really get what the book was about. I don't think my nephew got the point at all.

The illustrations were charming! They were much more complex than at first appears so my nephew who likes to draw a spread from each book we read was hard pressed to find one that he could even manage. He did it but he struggled and it became less fun. His favorite spread was in the flyleaf of the dog's varied expressions. The illustrations also had mini-search and finds to locate the cat in each scene which was really neat.

We enjoyed the language used, there were many action words like "splash!" and the counting was cute too. We also liked that dog talked to the cats too. There is so much going on with this book there is much to pour over and focus on each time it is read!

BOTTOM LINE: A unique way to explain differences to a child.

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You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...

[Barbara]

Dog loves the praise his family showers on him whenever he does something good. He also loves the dog treats they give him as a reward. But when the family leaves him in charge while they go to the store, things go awry. He can't find the five cats, and he's supposed to keep them in line. As he hunts them down, he causes quite a mess. He even ends up gobbling up their cat treats. While he sleeps, the cats come to his rescue and clean up everything. Pet lovers will adore this story since both the author and the illustrator clearly know the habits of felines and canines, especially when their human companions are away. The cartoon-like illustrations of cats hiding under the bed covers, leaping from clothes hampers, and then curling up next to dog are delightful. Young readers will turn to this one over and over because they'll recognize that it really isn't Dog who is in charge of things.

[Jeremey Olson]

This book is about a Dog who is very loved by his owner. He is always making sure that he is being the best dog that his owner could ask for. Then one day is family leaves him in charge of the house while he is gone. The dog shares the house with 5 cats. While the family is away the dog asks the cats to stop causing trouble and they don't listen to the dog. After trying so hard to get the cats the dog gives up and wonders if he is being a good dog. The cat decide that the dog is good and helps him clean up the house of all the messes that they made. Read this book and find out if the family still thinks this dog is the best and will the cats respect the dog's leadership. I would recommend this book to young kids who are always doing things and don't know if they are pleasing parents.

Going, K. L., & Santat, D. (2012). Dog in charge. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

[Jayne]

This book about a tutu-wearing dog and his five feline housemates is cute. The illustrations make it even cuter. It is lively but sparse story about what happens when the humans leave dog in charge while they are away. He tries to herd the cats, but as you know....herding cats is never easy. So he must wait for them to make up their minds to help.

Charming, funny book I recommend for 3-6 year olds.

[Edward Sullivan]

Dog has his paws full trying to keep up with five naughty cats.

[Danica Midlil]

I loved the cartoonish illustrations.
Poor dog, he's so out-matched.

[Lily Wood]

I loved this book! I think its such a cute book for kids, especially for kids that love pictures and illustrations. I thought this book had a really cute story to it, and I love animal books. The only thing about this book is I feel there really isnt any message for kids to learn. The best part about this book is the illustration. There is so much for kids to look at on each page, I also really like how some of the words are written in stuff the cats are doing. For example, when the cat is in the chimney and the word "SWISH!" is written in ash. The illustrations in this book looked like it had different scenes apart of a whole movie on each page, because it would be a new location and be like two pictures on one page. I really enjoyed this book and I think a younger audience would love it too! I give this book a 5/5 and would say readers 3 and up would have a good read.

[Jared White]

I've read through this 3 times over the past couple of weeks and I've liked it more with each reading. I love the dog and cats' relationship and love that the cats sure don't seem to love dog until the dog goes to sleep and thus doesn't realize that they love him. I feel like ambivalence often exemplifies cats' relationships with dogs and sometimes with people as well.

A very fun story with expressive illustrations.

[Cara Byrne]

My preschooler loved this book, and I appreciated Going's chaotic-turned-sweet story and Santat's wonderfully vivid and action-packed illustrations. Visually, it was difficult to follow the story at times. This book would have benefitted from a single scene per spread instead of spreads being divided in 4 scenes.

[Logan]

1.5 stars

This was a stupid book. The "moral" was that things seem to fix themselves after you try to fix something and it goes wrong. The illustrations weren't that nice anyways, and I don't really understand why this was written.

[Emily]

Dog is a good dog, smart dog, the very best dog. But when he's left at home to mind the (five!) cats, things don't go well. Will his people still love him when the cats have been so naughty? Great concept, wonderfully written, and fantastic art.

[Mackenzie]

My kids love this book!! It’s really easy to read along with, and they like interacting page to page. It’s just a nice wholesome plot line about a dog babysitting the cats in the house and the things that come with that. Definitely a cute book and I recommend!!

[Lisa]

Not a good fit for our family.

Content considerations: the male dog lead is dressed in a pink tutu and bow and dances for his owner. The cats cause a ton of mischief but then after the dog eats all their treats and falls asleep clean it up before the owners return.

[Kelly]

The first thing I loved about it was the illustrations. But it's Dan Santat, so automatically good illustrations. But the story was fun and cute. I think it's a good draw for the picture book group. And adults.

[Awjtf]

loved this book!

[Miss Ryoko]

This is getting a 3 star review from me only because Dan Santat's work gives me life :-p The story of this book is meh. But the illustrations were fun

[Jodee]

Cute how opposites attract and those you think don't love and adore you actually do and will do anything for you.

[Vivian]

Loaded with humor, frustration and warmth, this will appeal to ailurophiles and cynophilists alike. :)

[Goshen PL Childrens]

Read at Storytime on June 27th
Theme: Miss Tina's favorites

[Heather]

Cute book that shows dogs and cats CAN live together in harmony. Sort of. Not quite right for storytime. Recommended ages 4-7.

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School]

What could possibly go wrong leaving a dog in charge of five cats? A humourous look at training and friendship.

[Andrea]

SO SILLY. Dog thinks he's in charge. Dog is a very good dog. The best dog.

[Nancy]

Go dog, go!