Carl Makes a Scrapbook

Good Dog, Carl #7

by Alexandra Day

Mom started a scrapbook years ago, but when she leaves the house, Carl and baby Madeleine decide to update it with their own mementos. Carl's many fans will welcome this charming glimpse inside his world, based on some real and not so real experiences in the author's life. This almost wordless fantasy includes winning entries from the Carl's Scrapbook contest.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1994

About the author

Alexandra Day, the beloved creator of Good Dog, Carl, is the literary persona of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling—an artist and storyteller devoted to the deep, joyful connection between children and animals. The beloved children's book author, Alexandra Day, is the literary persona of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling, an artist and storyteller passionate about connecting children and animals.

Born in 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Alexandra Day emerged from a creative family where painting was a cherished pastime. Four formative years on a hundred-acre Kentucky farm nurtured her deep connection to animals and literature, fostering the seeds of her future artistic vision.

Day and her husband, Harold Darling, founded Green Tiger Press in 1970, marking the beginning of their publishing adventure. Her breakthrough came in 1985 with Good Dog, Carl, a book inspired by an antique German illustration she discovered in a Zurich bookshop. The story was based on her own Rottweiler, Toby, and featured her granddaughter, Madeleine, as the baby.

Over the past four next three decades, Day has published twenty-four Carl books, selling more than six million copies. The series, featuresing a gentle Rottweiler caring for a baby and their adventures, is a beloved staple of children's literature. Beyond Carl, she also created the Frank and Ernest series, The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, and many other books.

After selling Green Tiger Press in 1986, Day and Harold started Blue Lantern Publishing. In 1993, they moved to Seattle and founded Laughing Elephant Publishing. Following Harold's passing in 2016, Day continues to run the company with her family.

When not painting Carl or working at her publishing company, Day can be found spending time with her grandchildren and tending her garden. Alexandra Day often visits libraries and schools with her dogs, promoting reading and the benefits of therapy animals. Her life's work celebrates the magical bond between children, animals, and storytelling.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now I would honestly only (and even then most grudgingly) recommend Carl Makes a Scrapbook to and for those potential readers who are serious Carl the Rottweiler "completists" and want to or even feel the need to read each and every book in the series. Because albeit that some of the accompanying photographs (which seem to have been selected from pictures sent to Alexandra Day by fans of the series) are indeed sweet and evocative, both the general make-up and basic organisation of Carl Makes a Scrapbook are rather annoyingly confusing and really massively and annoyingly cluttered.

And therefore, Alexandra Day’s presented narrative does not at all make for a smoothly flowing story, and many of the captions below the pictures are also so minuscule and incredibly difficult to easily read that Carl Makes a Scrapbook is really and for all intents and purposes, more a difficult chore than in any way a pleasure (for sorry, but having to don both my reading glasses and use a magnifying glass in order to adequately read the captions below the photographs is both annoying and a sign of reader disrespect). For while Carl Makes a Scrapbook does indeed contain a select few engaging and cute illustrations of Carl, this does not in any manner rescue this book from being, for the most part, simply distracting and rather frustratingly tedious. And finally, if Carl Makes a Scrapbook has proven confusing and distracting to and for me, an adult reader, it would probably be even less of a reading pleasure (and more potentially annoying and tedious) for a small child.

And yes, there are indeed so very many other books in the Carl the Rottweiler series that are delightfully wonderful and an absolute pleasure (and a treasure) to read and share with a child or even an adult dog enthusiast and I do thus most strongly suggest reading these Carl picture books instead.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

With "Carl Makes a Scrapbook," I think it is safe to say that Alexandra Day has officially run out of ideas.

What's next, "Carl Orders a Frappacino"?

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The entire carl the dog series is wonderful. Told with minimal language, most stories are set around Carl the Rottweiler taking care of a little girl named Madeleine. Sometimes there are more kids but mostly just her. These are great books, if as a parent, you can get past the fact that the parent goes off for a long stretch of time, expecting the dog to watch over the child. Certainly, these stories are set in a different age. They are wonderfully illustrated and kids just love these stories and the dog that e dry one wishes they had.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite of the Carl series. It almost feels like a side story to the official series for the deep lore Carl readers. You don't get as much Carl or the paintings because it's all scrapbook pictures of people we don't know. I really just have this to have the whole series.

[Coral · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second Carl book we've checked out. The first one, Carl Goes Shopping was much better. It had the same general form, with the opening sentence and ending sentence and nothing but pictures inbetween. We liked it because the pictures gave you enough freedom to come up with your own variations on what was going on. The pictures in this one were too busy, too cluttered, and the mix of illustration and real-life pictures simply didn't work. At one point, my daughter said "This is kinda boring."

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really sure if this should be fiction or non-fiction. Although I enjoyed Carl Goes Shopping better, this had the same interest as looking through a friends scrapbook. A quiet book for a reflective child.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much going on. Not engaging. When Mom goes out to work in the garden (wearing a skirt and good shoes), why didn't she take her daughter outside, too!? And then Mom leaves her small child and large dog unsupervised for way too long.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was nothing here to pull me through this Carl "narrative" - its not even an adventure this time, which is what makes the Carl books so enjoyable.

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

My inspiration to start making a scrapbook, back before scrapbooking became a thing.

[Danielle T · Rating 2 out of 5]

H got this out of a little free library, but I think we're going to put it back out in the system. Carl and the child make a scrapbook, but this scrapbook appears to contain Alexandra Day's actual family photos and ephemera which is kinda cool, but it does make this different from the other "here's Carl hijinks as he travels through a space"

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotta love a Rottweiler making a scrapbook! I’m sure his slobber helped keep the photos in great condition. It was cool how the author used her family’s own pictures (I’m assuming) in the middle of the book.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was little and it inspired me to make my own little scrapbooks. I still make things like it as an adult now.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I feel like this is a book to read if you are already a devoted Carl and Madeleine fan. It's more reflective in nature than the playful and imaginative vibes of the other books.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Carl books are great, but was delighted by how good this scrapbook one is.