The Doghouse

by Jan Thomas

Mouse, Pig, Cow, and Duck are playing a carefree game of ball when (horror of horrors!) their ball gets kicked into . . . THE DOGHOUSE. Who will risk a run-in with scary Dog to get it back? Hysterical high anxiety ensues as Mouse volunteers each animal to do the dirty work—but you’ll never believe what’s really going on in the doghouse! With Jan Thomas’s fun, fresh art and priceless animal expressions, this timeless tale of fear and friendship will have readers howling.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Humor, Childrens, Dogs, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

When Jan Thomas isn't working on children's books, she's painting pictures, playing the drums, backpacking, or wrangling dust bunnies.

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bein’ scared. Is it a part of childhood? Absolutely. A list of some things that I was afraid of as a youngster:

1) Deep water

2) Goulash

3) Mean dogs

Jan Thomas, on a roll with the recent “A Birthday for Cow!” and “What Will Fat Cat Sit On?“, addresses my third fear with success in “The Doghouse”. Funny while maintaining an underlying truth (the unknown can be scary), “Doghouse” will be a great addition to your story time repertoire.

As with previous books by this author, the storyline is uncluttered. Beginning on the endpapers, we discover that Cow, playing a game with Mouse, Duck, and Pig, has accidentally kicked a red rubber ball into the doghouse. It’s a scary place and there aren’t any volunteers eager to retrieve it. Mouse, the smart alec, begins nominating others for the job. Tension builds as one by one, they accept the challenge. One by one, they enter the doghouse. One by one, they don’t come back. Dog finally appears, scaring the daylights out of mouse. The reader soon finds out, however, that Dog’s intentions are good - the animals aren’t coming out because he is having them stay for dinner.

The digital illustrations of “Doghouse” are tailor made for sharing with a group. Thomas employs bold color and some of the fattest outlines I’ve seen in a picture book to make the characters stand out. In fact, when reading this book individually it can feel at times like you’re in too close.

While the plot may strike some readers as familiar, the execution is where hay is made. Entertaining through and through, “The Doghouse” will be eagerly snatched up by young readers.

[Keli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis

Barnyard animals are playing ball when they accidentally kick their ball in the doghouse. Who will be brave enough to retreive it?

Review

The simple, short narrative and animal sounds make this a great option for storytime. The story begins on the title page and wastes no time getting to the action. Bold colors and thick lines make the pictures easy to see from a distance. The repetative nature of the story is excellent for building narrative skills and the play on the phrase "I'm having duck for dinner," offers humor with multiple meanings. This is a very entertianing story that is appropriate for younger readers.

Critical Reviews

School Library Journal
SLJ spends a lot of time retelling the book, but agrees that the pictures are excellent for storytime. It also stated that "I'm having duck for dinner," may be an old joke but is great for kids who are just learning word play.

Kirkus
This review focuses on the pictures and the short text in this book. While it doesn't mention its possible application as a good storytime book, this book does give credit to the repetition and short sentences. But the review is mostly focused on the mood created by the pictures and typeface.

Other Bibliographic Information

Published in 2008 by Harcourt Children's Books

40 pages

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has suspense and mystery! The animals keep going into the doghouse... and not coming out! What can be happening inside? Will we ever find out? Is the tiny doghouse magic, since the cow can fit and the pig can fit and the duck can fit? Oh, wait, we don't discuss that.

Fun to read with kids. I like the illustrations here better than in What Will Fat Cat Sit On?.

[Ally McCulloch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, cute, and playful with words. It was a great pick for storytime.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is funny. The animals are all afraid of the doghouse. One by one they go in and don't come back out. They are afraid of dog but it turns out dog is just having a dinner party.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for early readers. Cow, Duck, Pig and Mouse are having fun...until their ball gets kicked into the doghouse. One by one, they go to retrieve it...but don't return. What is happening in the DOGHOUSE?

[Cecilia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible morals...

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jan Thomas is my new go-to storytime author. I've been reading this one, along with _Rhyming Dust Bunnies_, for an abbreviated storytime this month and it's been going over big with the preschoolers. For added drama, I'll tell them we're reading a scary book and read the title in a deep, dramatic voice. Every time I read the words "the doghouse" again, I do it in that deep, scary voice. Once I added a "dun dun dun!" afterwards, and the kids picked up on that and started doing it as well. While all of the animals are terrified to enter the dreaded doghouse, it of course turns out not to be at all scary. But the dramatic tension Thomas creates is so effective. Great for building print awareness (certain words, like "the doghouse," are emphasized and easily recognized) and narrative skills (lots of repitition for the kids to repeat). I LOVE this book.

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as much fun as her previous books, but the ending on this one was too predictable. Might not be to toddlers, however, and it's a great read-aloud, so when I find me some toddlers, I'll try it out on them :) The art and design is so fabulous...

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great suspense picture book for toddlers

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for dramatic reading aloud-- right down to the fonts. Funny illustrations. The boys liked it but will probably enjoy it more on repeated readings when they are already "in" on the irony.

[Heather Pehnec · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. Though it's an old joke, the illustrations add a lot, and make it perfect for reading aloud to a group.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preschool 4/23/2014
Preschool 4/25/2014

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaged my young audience during both toddler and preschool storytimes.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is an extremely silly children's book about different animals trying to go into the doghouse to get their ball which bounced into it.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jan Thomas' books--so cute and funny!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good for younger children.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jan Thomas' Is Everyone Ready for Fun? and this one is just as funny. Some animals are playing kickball and the ball goes into a dog house. Mouse volunteers his friends to go in there and get it. One after another, they don't come back. Turns out, a bear feeds them all dinner. It's a great dramatic read and fun for storytime. It was a bit long for the babies, but the caregivers were into it enough to keep up the interest. There were some great animal sounds for them to repeat as well as the "Oh no!" when the animals don't come back out. I am very open about my love for animal sounds in story time books, so this book is a gem on a few levels. Fun to read, bright bold, illustrations, dramatic and funny story with a twist, and good call-back opportunities for the care givers.

[Micha O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

With its bright, cartoonish illustrations and familiar characters (cow, pig, duck, and mouse), this book is perfect for your little goblins as both an introduction to suspense as well as cause and effect. The story starts on the end papers with the friends playing a game of kickball and the ball headed straight to the [gulp] doghouse. The scene changes from a bright sunny day, to a dark and stormy night, leaving the friends looking terrified. One by one, they each enter the foreboding doghouse to retrieve the ball, never to return. When Mouse is left alone, a pair of eyes and sharp, pointy teeth peak out to exclaim that he’s having duck for dinner. I don’t want to spoil it- you’ll have to check out the book to find out the ending!

[Arra Amaru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome children's book. Easy Reading for toddlers, as they develop word recognition.
The bold colors, choice of words (Onomatopoeias) and tonality make for interactive reading time. My little has memorized the words on the page. The matte texture of the book is surely something to note. It feels better than all the other books in my little guys library. And these littles are big on textures/sensory. We read this book a few times a week, or at this point he reads it to me and he is 2.

Also teaches them to look at other perspectives, because things aren't always what they seem, especially when you stereotype or make generalization.

Im glad I got this in my Amazon subscription box or I wouldn't have known it existed. Im looking to collect the whole series.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because everyone is scared someone's gonna eat them: a dog. Don't you know any dogs who eat other animals, like a wolf? But that's not what it is; I think it's a terror dog, and it's a different kind of terror (terror!). He's terrifying, but the regular kind of dog just tears things apart. And it's also that kind of dog, and if it eats the people people in the book, it will be dead and there'll be no more in the series, but that doesn't happen. [spoiler alert] Instead, they join him for dinner.

[Nereida Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be perfect for not only a read aloud but to also teach how adjectives can be used to describe animals. For example, the cow was described as big and strong while the pig was described as stinky. After reading the book, you could have the students pick and object and write down as many adjectives about that object.

[Tahlor Kimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book could be cute for younger students but they might also find it a bit scary. The animals keep going into the cave and never come back out. Mouse then keeps forcing other animals to go after them but they just all continue to not come back out. Overall, short and very simple book for kids.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about friends being afraid to go in the doghouse after their ball rolls in. Three of them go in and don't come back out. Finally, Mouse peeks in the window and sees that they're all having dinner together.
Humor and simple text for early readers.
Expressive faces support the text in the illustrations.

[Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fast read but very interesting way to start the book because it immediately starts with the opening of the cover with no words but after you flip it is a continuation of what happened on the inside of the cover and it ends the same way going page the last page and having the last part on the inside of the back cover. Another book aimed mainly for the Kindergarten and 1st grade kids.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The animals' red ball accidentally ends up in the doghouse. Mouse volunteers first Cow, then Pig, then finally Duck to go in after it. None of them come out (dun dun dunnnnn...).

Here's another book where the illustrations look like they could have been done in MS Paint, but it works somehow in this case.

Funny story with great characters for the scope of it, and a good punchline.

[Kelly Wickham · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the kids have loved this easy book. The illustrations are fun and interesting as they are crude and simple but very colorful. Even though there is very little dialogue the book builds and builds to a crescendo. It appears to end in a horrifying and horrible circumstance, but it is really a misunderstanding in meaning. The animals are truly having a nice dinner together in the DOGHOUSE!

[Cassie Veselovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple picture book with bright illustrations and simple text perfect for toddlers. The animal characters are depicted with such bold expressions, you can't help but smile. I love Jan Thomas' artwork! Excellent choice for a storytime on feelings, or sharing one on one with your little one who may be a wee bit scared of unknown places.

[TJE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traded with a friend and received this book. We like the format of these books as they are great next step transitions from board books. Funny stories, would like to find more series like this to see other options. Genre most closely related to mystery with a little thrill throughout the story, ending happily and safely.

[Sarah Alamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're so proud of you for reading "The Doghouse"! You learned that even when friends make mistakes, we should forgive them and give them another chance. Just like the dog's friends helped him, you can be kind to your friends when they make mistakes too. Everyone deserves a second chance! You're becoming such a wonderful reader. Keep up the great work, sweetheart!