Children’s Choice Award
The children’s book “Bailey” by Harry Bliss is about a dog that gets ready for school, attends school, and arrives home from school. This is a perfect book for school aged children because it is a fun twist on what happens during a typical school day. Because Bailey is the only non-human classmate, it helps young readers to understand what to do and what not to do in the classroom, such as eat their homework as Bailey does. The light humor in this favorite children’s book helps prevent young students from falling into bad habits in school.
This picture book is mostly in a school setting. The book starts off in Bailey’s house as he is getting ready for school, and then transitions from his house, to the school bus, to Bailey’s school. Bailey is characterized as a top-notch dog that is well liked at Champlain Elementary school. The children learn from Bailey what they should and should not do while in school. The plot of this children’s book is that of a typical school day. Bailey is getting ready for school, and then misses the bus because he is distracted by his stick. After arriving at school, Bailey puts his belongs in his cubby. He then explains to his teacher that he ate his homework, and later has to go to the nurse because he has a stomachache. Bailey participates in lunch, math class, art class, recess, music class, and reading class. Throughout the day there are things that a typical dog would do, but is not appropriate for children to do in class. The theme of “Bailey” is what is normal for a dog to do in school may not be appropriate for a student to do. However, some of the things Bailey does while in school are plausible. The point of view in the children’s book is third person, because the storyteller does not participate in the action but lets us know how the characters act and feel.
This book can be easily incorporated into a classroom and can be effective in instructing new students on what goes on in school. This book will give children a feel for what their typical days will now be like before, during, and after school. It shows students the behavior that is expected in school while adding humor so they enjoy and are interested in the book “Bailey.”