The Great Gracie Chase - Stop That Dog!

by Cynthia Rylant

Gracie is a dog who enjoys the quiet life. For her, there's nothing more pleasant than sitting indoors, resting peacefully. One day, however, Gracie's world is turned upside-down with the arrival of some noisy, bustling painters. Gracie barks at them, ordering them out of her house, but to her surprise, Gracie is put out instead. When Gracie decides to take a walk outdoors–all by herself–it doesn't take long for someone to notice she's missing. Soon, the painters, the neighbors, the garbage man and the paperboy are running after her, and Gracie can't figure out why . . . so she keeps on running! Soon the whole town joins in the chase, but Gracie outruns them all and returns home–all by herself.

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

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

An author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for children and young adults as well as an author and author/illustrator of picture books for children, Cynthia Rylant is recognized as a gifted writer who has contributed memorably to several genres of juvenile literature. A prolific author who often bases her works on her own background, especially on her childhood in the West Virginia mountains, she is the creator of contemporary novels and historical fiction for young adults, middle-grade fiction and fantasy, lyrical prose poems, beginning readers, collections of short stories, volumes of poetry and verse, books of prayers and blessings, two autobiographies, and a biography of three well-known children's writers; several volumes of the author's fiction and picture books are published in series, including the popular "Henry and Mudge" easy readers about a small boy and his very large dog.

Rylant is perhaps most well known as a novelist. Characteristically, she portrays introspective, compassionate young people who live in rural settings or in small towns and who tend to be set apart from their peers.

from bookrags.com

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ages: 3 - 7

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!

Visit my website!

[Lauren Canaday Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not going to lie -- this book gave me such anxiety. A dog running around in the streets makes me so nervous about its well being! The painters put the owners' dog outside while the owners were gone? That painting company would be REPORTED. Everyone is running around and there are stray cats and ahhhhh! This is just not a good book for someone like me who is always on alert about animal welfare.

But, it's a cute book so if you read it with your child, hopefully they don't think about it as literally as I did, haha!

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books to read to young children. Gracie is a cute little dog that realizes she doesn't like painters...they are too noisy! When Gracie voices her opinion, she gets put outside. Someone left the gate open and Gracie decides to 'go for a walk'. It's a cute story and the illustrations are really colorful and help give depth to the story.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very funny and sweet book with really good illustrations. Wonderful for kids who love dogs. And it's a perfect read aloud book. Enjoyable for adults as well as young children.

[Mia Mihalic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining book for me to read, so I know this will be a great book for younger students. It didn't have a deeper meaning which made for a more lighthearted read and a very good story time. Throughout this book, a very calm dog, normal, was startled by painters and construction workers so she started to bark. Her owner put her outside so Gracie escaped and ran away. This caused all the town workers, and her owners to chase after her. I absolutely loved the comedy within this book because the illustrations of this picture story book show how confused Gracie was when everyone was chasing her and from a human perspective them being confused why she was still running. I think this would be a perfect read for 1st grade or kindergarten because it was very goofy and light hearted with so many detailed images that made the story feel real. Overall, this was a great book to find and I would love to read this to my classroom for a fun story time. The picture book feel of this book really pulled the whole book together because the illustrations explained more of Gracies thoughts than the words did alone.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Rylant has give us one of her best plots ever, with an engaging cast of characters.

Incidentally, Mark Teague is the able illustrator, not the author at all.

THIS BOOK IS ALL AB OUT THE GREAT GRACIE CHASE

The chase in that title begins with Gracie, a dog. Hardly adventurous, she generally prefers sitting indoors. She prefers resting.

Until, that is, noisy house painters enter her home. When Gracie barks at the painters, ordering them to leave HER house, she is put out instead.

Fast forward to the thrilling conclusion -- where the house painters, the neighbors, the garbage man, the paperboy and the delivery woman are all running after her.

A happy ending does, somehow, happen.

FIVE STARS for a most engaging story.

[Hannah Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Gracie Chase is another one of Cynthia Rylant's best written. It tells the story of a little dog named Gracie who lives a pleasant life and loves the peace and quiet of her home. One day, that all changes when painters come to redo her owners house and they are so noisy. Not only does this upset Gracie but the painters left the front door open and that began the Great Gracie Chase. This book teaches accountability and responsibility but in a way young kids can understand the concept. I will definitely use this book in my classroom one day. I would recommend to any teacher or parent looking for a good children's book.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a dog named Gracie that likes things that are quiet and usually tries to be a good dog. She doesn't like it when noisy painters come to the house so she gets put outside and soon everyone is chasing her when she goes for a walk. She eventually tires everyone out and she returns to her quiet house. This is a cute read aloud to include when reading other books written by Cynthia Rylant.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's literature picture book
K-1

This is a book that I think kindergarteners would especially love. Gracie is an endearing, cute puppy who likes a quiet life, but turns everyone else's upside down when she runs away from the painters. This could be fun for a pet unit or mentor text for sequencing.

[Alyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary Realistic
Grades K-2
In this story Gracie gets scared by some painters and takes off running through the neighborhood. Soon the whole town was chasing her trying to catch her. I read this book with my 1st grade STEM class I'm with for fieldwork. They then used Scratch Jr. to retell the story with coding.

[Kristina Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrative
Grade Level: K-2
This is one of my FAVORITE picture books of all time! It is an adorable story of a good little dog named Gracie who decides to be naughty for the first time in her life. The plot and illustrations are engaging. Side note: Mark Teague is one of my FAVORITE illustrators. I've used this book as a mentor text in my first grade classroom for a personal narrative unit.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a FUN book! The illustrations are wonderful! Vibrant and animated! The story builds interest quickly. I enjoyed this adventure tale very much! I will be adding Mark Teague’s work to my “to read” list!

[Linda Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes when your routine is upset, your whole world gets out of order! This is a good story for K-3rd graders and a mentor text for author's voice. The illustrations also help reiterate the point of view from Gracie.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable story about a little dog that just likes peace and quiet at home until the painters arrive and ruin everything. So reminds me of my little dog who hates construction at our house. Love the illustrations of Mark Teague!

[Jobe (Bookslayer) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't stand this dog. I would let Gracie get lost, put her outside and never let her come back in. My son loves looking at this book, so I read it every night. The words are slow and not great so I've made up my own. The illustrations are nice.

[Laura Bradham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Rylant does it again! She draws the reader into the action immediately. Gracie likes quiet, but she gets a race until she out races everyone and can go back home to her favorite - quiet. Quiet - life as she knows it, her favorite place in her favorite way, without any change.

[Amanda Wooden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book that would be easy for children to learn about sequence of events with.

[Alyssa Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interactive book. It keeps you on edge about when is the dog going to stop running. It shows that even animals like that want routine.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminiscent of a story from the classic era of cartoons, this is the funny story of a pudgy little dog who leads the entire neighborhood on a wacky case.

[Colton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is allowing because Gracie is funny

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my childhood book. I am convinced that The Great Gracie Chase sparked my love for reading.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tale of the day Gracie Rose, a little dog who enjoys her peace and quite, left her yard, and led the entire town on a merry chase.

[Mely · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a fun, silly story. Loved the bold, colorful, cute illustrations.

[Madison Gullekson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about a dog who gets her life interrupted by some noisy painters. The painters put her outside and she escapes and runs away but eventually come back home.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will be fun to share at Storytime - Music & Movement.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red 1st

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable! We love Cynthia Rylant’s books!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my very favorite books to share with children!

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to Sam.

[Cathleen Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the characterization of Gracie in this wonderful story!