Work, Dogs, Work: A Highway Tail – A Fun Picture Book About a Construction Crew and Their Trucks for Children

Construction-worker dogs

by James Horvath

Top dog Duke and his busy crew of construction worker dogs have a big day ahead of them as they race to repair a road. With miles of new road to lay, the crew gets to work using equipment like bulldozers, steamrollers, and paving trucks. But what happens when a rocky hill blocks the way? Time to bring in the demolition crew!

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Construction, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Trucks

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2014

About the author

James Horvath has worked as a designer and children's illustrator for more than fifteen years. In 2002 he established Jamestoons Studios (with a workforce of one) so he could focus more on his illustration. When not scratching and scribbling at his drawing table, he plays with his two young sons and wife, bangs around on the banjo, surfs, and generally has a lot of fun. A lifelong devoted cartoon fan, James Horvath lives with his family on California's Central Coast.

Reviews

[Cemeread · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this title just as much as Dig Dogs Dig. It follows the same format as the construction book, but of course this one includes the machines needed to build a highway. Readers will learn the name and job of each machine as the cheerful dogs once again get to work. Don't forget to look for Jinx the black cat in just abut each spread.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So colorful and a great story about building a road.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Use in a transportation unit for kindergarten with Go, Dog. Go!

[Neurocomp · Rating 4 out of 5]

any time your nephew makes you read a book repetitively...its a good book

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's learn what grownups do when they work in construction. How do they lay new road? What happens when they must DEMOLISH, since a rocky hill blocks the way?

Oh, did I mention? Construction workers like Duke, Roxy, Buddy, and Max are all DOGS.

WHAT'S ANOTHER WAY THAT YOU CAN TELL THIS DOGGIE CREW IS IN A PICTURE BOOK?

Apart from all the pictures, that is...

Rhyming stanzas sweeten up the text; stanzes that are four lines each, with rhymes at aBcD.

Hey, I'm a fan of rhymes for young children. Seems to me, rhymes help to refine their ear for language.

WORK, DOGS, WORK

Here's a sample of how toddlers learn from this book... "all about" building a road.

A bright yellow quarry truck dominates the two-page spread. There's also a smaller truck. Both, of course, are driven by dogs.

"Huge quarry trucks
are too big for the street.
To move tons of rock,
these trucks can't be beat."

RATING THIS BOOK

I'll give it FIVE STARS. Goodreaders, I can foresee two different possible consequences from reading this storybook:

* Either kids become more industrious.
* Or else they do their level best to turn into dawgs.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

We own a copy of Dig, Dogs, Dig and recently discovered there were two other titles in the series, Work, Dogs, Work being one of them.

Like Dig, Dogs, Dig, there are several aspects of this book that I enjoy. The pages have a lot going on in them that make it enjoyable for multiple reads. e.g., you can usually find something new in the page. Our typical reading process these days is to read the story but to pause on each page with questions like "can you find this object?" "What is Trixie driving?" "Which dog is driving the dump truck?" and of course, "Can you find Jinx the cat?" Jinx is usually on every single page though sometimes he's quite difficult to find. The meter of the rhyming text is pleasant and the story is easy to learn which makes reading the book together fun on successive reads.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cassie and I had the pleasure of reading this book last night before bed. We loved that they explained the equipment and trucks in the books on what each one does. Cassie didn't realize all that went in to building a road for us to drive on everyday. I loved how the equipment looks like it does in real life. Though I had to tell Cassie that a lot of the things that happened take way longer then what the book says it does. We loved looking at the very detailed illustrations on every page. All the Dogs were doing something and showed their own personality through it. The text was easy to read aloud, I had no trouble going from one page to the next. It flowed wonderfully and it was in the perfect frame of explanation that a first grader needed. I highly recommend checking out this amazing book.

[H. L. Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bright and captivating children’s story shows how teamwork plays an integral role in getting the job done - what a powerful thing for young readers to understand! As the work dogs begin their day, we move along with them in this enthusiastic journey towards completing a highway. Each page describes the behind-the-scene details of their work through upbeat rhyming and vivid Illustration. I love the lasting impression it leaves on the child - teamwork is essential and work can be fun! My son has the three books in this series and we have read them over and over again!

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is really a cute story that has a lot of colorful illustrations young children enjoy
i'm thinking about adding it to the collection of books in my block area
its short and to the point- i like this series

[Liz Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun--and truck/construction lovers will love this one. Lots of great vocabulary. I thought the end papers were adorable with the character names on them. Kids who read this book over and over will enjoy finding the characters.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duke and his road crew work on a highway construction crew in this rhyming story about how a highway is designed, built, and the heavy earth movers used on the job, along with the many other jobs and tasks required to complete the job successfully.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute rhyming book, perfect for any kid who's hit the "truck phase." Lots of pictures of construction equipment with descriptions of what they do.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boy loves this book to death and it isn't too hard to reread many times as a parent. ;)

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect book for my son who loves dogs and construction vehicles. He's just learning to read and these simple sentences and structure were great!

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Names of trucks, rhyme and meter, and Duke - Boyo loved this one.

[Mariah Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the books in this series are great! They're perfect for young construction lovers! Each book going on a new construction job with the construction dogs!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is our current favorite nightly read-alouds. My son loves all things to do with construction. For the most part the words are rhythmic and flow well together.

[Danielle Robertson Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish they showed the full building at the end. My two-year-old likes to see the before and after like in the "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site" book series.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for those kids who love tractors and trucks.

8/9/21 Read with Julia

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trucks. Dogs. Verse. Toddlers and preschool truck lovers will enjoy this easy story.

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I liked that it was about dogs and I liked that the words rhymed. I would like to sit and watch construction vehicles someday." --Isaac, age 5

[pati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read-aloud at story time!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dog crew works hard to get the road built.

It's no mean feat to be able to put bulldozer, rock hopper, and quarry trucks into a rhyme that is done well. The rhyming is great and a lot of aspects of road building are covered from the big machines used to tunneling through a mountain to building a bridge. Kids who love machines and transportation vehicles should eat this up as will dog lovers. The fantastic rhyming makes it a great read aloud too.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love 'Build, Dogs, Build' and 'Dig, Dogs, Dig' so I was thrilled to find another James Horvath book in 'Work, Dogs, Work'. This "highway tail" of building a road to a fun end location is a perfect addition to the dogs series. I have to confess these are very diligent worker dogs and I love the appearance of Jinx, the black cat, on each page. Full of colorful imagery, rhymes and rhythm, as well as a great amount of equipment adds to the treasure of these pages.


I read an advanced reader copy. 6/27/14 Love the final copy - jacketed hardcover. 10/11/14 Thanks to HC.

Genre: Juvenile Fiction / Transportation / General
Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3
Pages: 40 Jacketed Hardcover 9x10"
Date Published: September 23, 2014
Publisher: Harper

[Leslie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these books. They are brightly illustrated and have fun rhymes that describe what goes on in construction. I used to work in construction before becoming a SAHM, so these books are a fun way to show my kids what I used to do when I was working. My kids really like the books, too (they are preschool/kinder age), and they really like looking at all the different pieces of construction equipment, learning what they do, and they like that the story is made up of dogs (including one female dog, which I also like).

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent addition to Horvath's tales of the Construction dogs, with their quintessential refrain [work], dogs, [work]!(Readers will be pleased to note that in this one, Roxy, the pink dog, gets to drive nearly every construction vehicle.) There are some falterings in the rhyme scheme, but devoted construction fans are unlikely to complain. Pair with Roadwork, which is it is somewhat reminiscent of.

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fun fun! Rhyming text flows well and details the complete process of building roads and all the equipment needed. Love how the dogs start the day at a Starbucks style coffee shop and end at the beach. Little details in the illustrations add to the meaning: when the traffic is stopped, the background color page is red, green when traffic is allowed to proceed. Front and back endpages are different as well. Need to read the other books in the series.

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves these books and this one was a Hanukkah gift this week. He enjoyed it but I found it a bit redundant and some of the illustrations were taken directly from previous books. I know he doesn't see the difference, but if authors want us to purchase their new books (especially hard cover), I would just like to see a bit more effort. Regardless...Max loved it and I know we will dig out the other two and we will read all three at bedtime tonight.

[Debbie Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in this series by James Horvath. It is a fun children's series!! Who doesn't love dogs...then you add all the big construction vehicles and you've got a great combination for a story. Very colorful, cute catchy rhymes and a playful black cat named Jinx hiding on every page. Your kids will have you reading this over and over until you know the story by heart.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Work, Dogs, Work: A Highway Tail by James Horvath tells a story of working construction dogs and some of the vehicles and other heavy machinery used to accomplish building a travel pathway. The illustrations are lively and the sentences are exciting to reach throughout each page. It was an enjoyable book to read during story time.