Perfect Picture Book Friday - Officer Buckle And Gloria

My Perfect Picture Book is really here, I promise, and if you're in a hurry you can scroll down, but remember that special celebration I mentioned Wednesday?  Well, today is a special day so I have to digress for one second!

Not only is today Perfect Picture Book Friday, it also happens to be my Brown Dog's birthday!  She is 5 today - a very nice age if you ask her :)  so please join me in a rousing chorus of

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Scout-y!

Happy Birthday to you!

You are all invited for yellow cake with vanilla icing (which dogs are allowed to have a small piece of on their birthdays) after the post :)  (In case you hadn't noticed, we'll pretty much take any excuse for cake around here :))

And so you can see just how wonderful she is, here is a picture of her when we first met her:

how could anyone this cute have needed to be rescued?

And here she is in her mature beauty :)

Best Brown Dog Ever!

And now, in honor of Scout's birthday (and because this is one of my all-time favorite picture books in the whole world) today's selection will be Officer Buckle And Gloria.  In case you were wondering, Gloria is a Brown Dog too :)

Officer Buckle And Gloria
Written and Illustrated By: Peggy Rathmann
Putnam Juvenile, September 1995, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 4-8
Themes/Topics: friendship, safety, being sensitive to others' feelings
Opening:  "Officer Buckle knew more safety tips than anyone else in Napville.  Every time he thought of a new one, he thumbtacked it to his bulletin board.  Safety Tip #77 NEVER stand on a SWIVEL CHAIR."


Brief Synopsis:  Officer Buckle gives the most boring safety speeches ever until Gloria comes along.  All of a sudden, the students sit up and take notice.  When Officer Buckle realizes what's going on, his feelings are hurt.  "No more speeches," he says.  But Gloria is no better without him than he was without her.  In the end, they both learn the most important tip of all - "always stick with your buddy." :)

Links To Resources: Classroom Activity, More Classroom Activities, Safety Tip Poster Activity, Captioned Media Program, Home School Lesson Plan


Why I Like This Book:  This book is a touching and delightful story about friendship.  The illustrations are hilarious, bringing Gloria's outrageous antics to life.  The safety tips are true and a good lesson, but presented in such an amusing way that kids won't feel like they're being taught or preached at.  The same is true for the message about friendship and being sensitive to the feelings of others.  This is a book you will be happy to read again and again :)

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Also, another note about Perfect Picture Books.  Our list is growing so beautifully that it's getting harder to search.  I'm working on adding an alphabetical listing by book title (so it will be easy for you to see at a glance what's already been done) and by blogger (in case you love someone's particular style!)  If anyone finds any errors, please let me know!  Just so you know, before today's posts are even up, we have about 110 books on the list in about 75 categories, from about 24 devoted bloggers!  And that's after only 8 weeks!

And now- because I wouldn't be me if I wasn't teasing you about something :) - tune in Monday for the announcement of a brand new feature!!!  It's going to be a good one (I think!), but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Monday to find out what it is :)

PPB bloggers, don't forget to add your link to the list below!

Have a great weekend, everyone!