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It Was Jake!
Bored to tears, Danny manages to get into all sorts of trouble using scissors, digging for treasure, and playing dressup, but conveniently blames everything on his dog, Jake
Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2013
The story describes the close friendship of a young boy named Danny and his dog Jake. Danny blames Jake for all the naughty things he has done, such as making a mess in the garden and in the bathroom. Danny’s mother punishes him for lying and passing on the blame to Jake. He is sent to bed without supper as a punishment.
I quite enjoyed the book and found the illustrations very creative, I remember Walker books from my childhood. I also liked the close friendship between Jake and Danny, a lot of children become very close to their family pets and could relate to this. On a negative note, I would say the book does not tackle dishonesty too well. I believe there are more books available which could do a better job of this. Being untruthful, I would say, is an important topic for young children and should be addressed. Children should not be encouraged that lying is acceptable and I believe this book does slightly give off that impression. However, the story has a comical ending as Jake plays a prank on Danny and he receives ‘a taste of his own medicine’.
I would encourage this story to be used for key stage 1 children, around 5 to 9 years old. It could be read solo or as a class read. I believe children at key stage 1 would be able to follow the story alone and enjoy reading it. The illustrations also do a fantastic job of telling the story, therefore children with lower reading abilities could still enjoy it.
This book could be used in class to teach children about ‘telling tales’ and essentially lying. Danny does not receive a severe punishment for telling lies. There does not seem to be a strong focus on his bad behaviour which could influence young children to behave in the same way. The class teacher could discuss the importance of telling the truth and draw up examples with the children. Overall I would recommend this book to school children as it is a pleasant read.
I quite enjoyed the book and found the illustrations very creative, I remember Walker books from my childhood. I also liked the close friendship between Jake and Danny, a lot of children become very close to their family pets and could relate to this. On a negative note, I would say the book does not tackle dishonesty too well. I believe there are more books available which could do a better job of this. Being untruthful, I would say, is an important topic for young children and should be addressed. Children should not be encouraged that lying is acceptable and I believe this book does slightly give off that impression. However, the story has a comical ending as Jake plays a prank on Danny and he receives ‘a taste of his own medicine’.
I would encourage this story to be used for key stage 1 children, around 5 to 9 years old. It could be read solo or as a class read. I believe children at key stage 1 would be able to follow the story alone and enjoy reading it. The illustrations also do a fantastic job of telling the story, therefore children with lower reading abilities could still enjoy it.
This book could be used in class to teach children about ‘telling tales’ and essentially lying. Danny does not receive a severe punishment for telling lies. There does not seem to be a strong focus on his bad behaviour which could influence young children to behave in the same way. The class teacher could discuss the importance of telling the truth and draw up examples with the children. Overall I would recommend this book to school children as it is a pleasant read.
September 19, 2013
This book is about Danny and his pet dog Jake. Danny gets upto mischieve and blames it on poor Jake. However, Jake gets his revenge by being cheeky to Danny. The book can be read to a class and independently by year 1 and 2 children. The illustrations in the book are mellow but enough to visually understand the story. I particularly enjoyed this story as it has a good moral at the end. Good book to read!
June 11, 2008
I like Anita Jeram's illustrations. They are always fun. In this book a boy blames his dog on all the naughty things he did. It was cute and funny, but I don't like the 'blame it on someone else' mentality. I won't be reading this one again.
How's that for contradictory?
How's that for contradictory?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews